|
Santa’s Most Unusual Request!
A brief presentation by Tim Spaeder at the Erie Torch club meeting on December 6, 2023. This story occurred about 12 years ago at an St. Luke Elementary School here in Erie, where I continue to portray Santa each year and have been doing so for at least 20 years. When I made my first Santa appearances, I was also the swim coach, and we had an enormous team with about 140 swimmers, or about 1/3 of the student population in the pool. I sure had a lot of fun and made true believers of many of those swimmers because Santa knew so much about them, such as what events they swam, their names, siblings’ names, and sometimes even their dogs’ names. |
I was unrecognizable with the fake beard, mustache, and wig of white locks. My Santa appearance lasted all day, started at 8:30 AM and ended at 3:30, talking to and having my photo taken with about 400 kids. (Appearing with the fake beard and wig was exceedingly hot and uncomfortable; ditching that stuff after I grew a beard has made Santa’s appearances much more comfortable and fun!)
I digress; back to the story: that year, a beautiful second-grade girl timidly approached me, and when I asked her what she would like for Christmas, her response floored me! She said: “Santa, all I want for Christmas is for my brother to talk again!”
Wow! How do I respond to that?
I thought for a few seconds, and since we were at a Catholic school, I suggested that we hold hands and pray, putting her brother’s condition in God’s hands. After our prayer, the girl smiled and seemed to be at peace.
Immediately after my Santa duty, I stopped by the school office to inquire about the boy, who was an 8th grader. I was dismayed when I discovered that I knew the boy, whose father was a friend of mine. Young James was a frequent volunteer at our Lenten Fish Dinners. I called my friend that evening, and he told me that James was life- flighted to a Children’s hospital that morning, and the doctors thought that James suffered a stroke. My heart sank!
A few days later, I again contacted the boy’s father and received the fantastic news that upon further testing, it was determined that James did not have a stroke, and he had made a complete and quick recovery. He was released from the hospital that day.
Did that little girl’s prayer create a Christmas miracle? I’ll let you decide.
Interestingly, the story takes another twist eight years after I received that most unusual request.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I was leading the Knights of Columbus crew erecting the Nativity set and putting up a Christmas tree near the church entrance, and a young man who was now a senior in college joined the crew; it was James!
While working together, I told James all his sister wanted for Christmas the year she was in second grade was for her brother to talk again! The expression on James’ face was the best Christmas gift this Santa ever received!
We both had tears of joy in our eyes -–it truly was the Christmas miracle that kept giving!
I digress; back to the story: that year, a beautiful second-grade girl timidly approached me, and when I asked her what she would like for Christmas, her response floored me! She said: “Santa, all I want for Christmas is for my brother to talk again!”
Wow! How do I respond to that?
I thought for a few seconds, and since we were at a Catholic school, I suggested that we hold hands and pray, putting her brother’s condition in God’s hands. After our prayer, the girl smiled and seemed to be at peace.
Immediately after my Santa duty, I stopped by the school office to inquire about the boy, who was an 8th grader. I was dismayed when I discovered that I knew the boy, whose father was a friend of mine. Young James was a frequent volunteer at our Lenten Fish Dinners. I called my friend that evening, and he told me that James was life- flighted to a Children’s hospital that morning, and the doctors thought that James suffered a stroke. My heart sank!
A few days later, I again contacted the boy’s father and received the fantastic news that upon further testing, it was determined that James did not have a stroke, and he had made a complete and quick recovery. He was released from the hospital that day.
Did that little girl’s prayer create a Christmas miracle? I’ll let you decide.
Interestingly, the story takes another twist eight years after I received that most unusual request.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I was leading the Knights of Columbus crew erecting the Nativity set and putting up a Christmas tree near the church entrance, and a young man who was now a senior in college joined the crew; it was James!
While working together, I told James all his sister wanted for Christmas the year she was in second grade was for her brother to talk again! The expression on James’ face was the best Christmas gift this Santa ever received!
We both had tears of joy in our eyes -–it truly was the Christmas miracle that kept giving!