Though I already knew it, I was 6 years old when Santa proved to the rest of my family that he is real.
My family was what you might call ‘disadvantaged’. My father was unemployed and there were seven of us living in an abandoned hamburger place, now fondly remembered as ‘the bug house’. I was too little then to know that we were homeless and I enjoyed the big ‘back yard” (parking lot).
It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve and I, like every other six year old, eagerly awaited Santa’s visit. I was concerned that we had no tree for him to put the presents under but I knew he could figure something out.
My father was out looking for work that Christmas Eve, Mom was at ‘home’ with my sister, and my brothers and I were playing at the school a few blocks over. The schools had been closed for Christmas break and so someone had thrown two trees in the dumpster. We ran to ask Mom if we could bring them home. She said we only needed one tree not two. We should leave the other for someone else who might need it. We picked out the better of the two and carried it home. We stood it up in what must have been the dining area of the restaurant, Mom pulled Gramma’a ornaments out and we all began to decorate our Christmas tree.
When my father came home from trying to find someway to provide for us, this very proud man stepped in the door to find his family gathered around a tree having Christmas. Later, he would tell us that he stood there frozen for several minutes but knowing that there would be nothing under that tree in the morning was more than he could bear. My father couldn’t let us see him cry, so he quietly turned to step back outside but as he turned, he found a large box at his feet. This box was full of toys, goodies and presents for each of us, all tagged “from Santa”. The next morning we found those presents were under the tree.
That was the Christmas that my family realized in one way or another that Santa is real. It would be almost 30 years before I myself learned the true identity of Santa. It seems that my sister and oldest brother had collected soda bottles for two months to make sure Santa was able to visit that year. The true identity of Santa Claus all those years ago was Love.
Merry Christmas and God bless.