A GIFT FOR SANTA

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

 JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS

  A Gift for Santa

 By John D.

Copyright 2013 John D.

Christmas 1955   

 

I saw Uncle Vinny and Aunt Lisa's blue truck waiting patiently in the pick-up line at school.  It was the beginning of Christmas break.  I was six years old.  Mom and Dad went to Paris, and left me with Uncle Vinny and Aunt Lisa.  I was anxious because I knew Uncle Vinny  and Aunt  Lisa would do something fun with me.  

It was their turn in line, and Lisa opened the back door of the blue truck for me.  

Uncle Vinny:  "How was your day, Sport?"

Me:  "It was good.  Can we get ice cream?"

Aunt Lisa:  "Sure we can.  Don't we always?"

We drove to our favorite ice cream shop, Charlie's,  in Houston.  I always got a waffle cone with vanilla praline.  

Two scoops.   

It made me feel so grown up to have two scoops.  

It was so big.

Uncle Vinny:  "Are you sure you can eat that?"

Me:  "Will you give me a dollar if I can eat it?"

Uncle Vinny:  "Sure.  We can do that."

He knew of course I could do it.

Aunt Lisa laughed at us.

We drove  to their farmhouse.  I liked to sleep in their barn.  My favorite place was up above  in the loft.  I unloaded my bag there. 

Aunt Lisa made my bed in the loft out of feed sacks with cotton batting inside.  It made  a comfortable mattress.  I slept  right by the window where you lower the hay.  I opened  two windows to a beautiful view of Uncle Vinny and Aunt Lisa's house on the right, and in  the front there was nothing but trees, and acres, and fields of cows.  

Uncle Vinny: "Alright, Sport, let's go down to the hardware store.  Santa Claus is coming.  It's supposed to be colder.  I want him to come into the barn, and make him comfy." 

I ran into house to tell Aunt Lisa we were going to the hardware store.

Aunt Lisa:  "You two don't get into much trouble , hear me?"

Me:  "Maybe we will, and maybe we won't."

It was about three days or four days before Christmas.  Uncle Vinny and I were on a timeline.  He drew a sketch about what we were about to do.  We were to make a thing for Santa's sleigh to rest on when he came into our barn.  Uncle Vinny didn't want Santa to slide on the hay in the barn.  He was afraid Santa's reindeer wouldn't be able stop.

Me:  "How come Santa doesn't land on your roof?"

Uncle Vinny:  "Our roof isn't strong enough to hold him.  Can you imagine a fat man like Santa fitting down a small hole in the chimney?  I don't think so."

Me:  "So , you're telling me that Santa has always come inside the barn?"

Uncle Vinny:  "Yep.  Don't question it, boy.  Don't question it."

Me:  "Well, okay."

I looked at Uncle Vinny's plans.  Santa's sleigh was supposed to come in on two rails - like train tracks - and it was to be made out of wood.  

I nodded my head, and pretended to understand.   I didn't understand, but I didn't  let Uncle Vinny know it.

He explained his plan to me.  

I nodded again, and still didn't understand.

Aunt Lisa:  "Don't come home without a hard hat, Vinny,  just in case the boy does something."

Uncle Vinny:  "And you need a pair of working man's clothes:  overalls.  You can't work in church clothes."

Uncle Vinny bought lumber, and he got me my own hammer and nails, my own carpenter belt, overalls, and gloves.

Uncle Vinny:  "Wear those gloves.  Real men don't have splinters."

Uncle Vinny never wore gloves.

We worked,  and worked,  and worked.  Aunt  Lisa checked on us  and brought us hot chocolate.  I  really liked hot chocolate.

Aunt Lisa (in her Texas drawl):  "You two are just adorable.  I could eat you up." 

Uncle Vinny and I both wore overalls and tool belts, boots and cowboy hats.  

We matched...very well.

Late that night Aunt  Lisa came in again to check on us. 

Aunt Lisa:  "Since you have a project of your own.  How 'bout I make a book about Jesus - about when He was born?  We can give it to Santa Claus, and  he can take it with him."

Me:  "That's a good idea.  It has to be all homemade."

Aunt  Lisa:  "Don't worry, baby.   It will be.  I intend to make it myself."

The next three days passed by like a breeze.  We got up early in the morning.  

Right as the sun rose Uncle Vinny's rooster sang:  "Cock-a-doodle doo!"

I ran into the house.  Aunt Lisa and Uncle Vinny were already at the table. Aunt Lisa set a place for me with a big helpin' of eggs, bacon, and a glass of milk...already on my plate. 

Aunt Lisa:  "You eat all of that.  Working men need a lot of food in their bodies.  If you're not hungry by lunch, you're not working hard enough."

I scarfed down every part of it.  I put on  my tool belt.  Aunt Lisa made me wear my hard hat.

Uncle Vinny and I went to work.

We came back to the farmhouse for lunch.   Things from Aunt Lisa's sewing kit were everywhere.  She was making the book for Santa from fabric.  I watched her read words from her Bible, and then copy them on fabric.  Her writing was so beautiful,  and so neat.  She sewed each page together.    

Aunt Lisa gave us lunch, and sent us on our way.

Christmas Eve arrived.  The night I waited for.

Uncle Vinny and I  barely finished  before 9 o'clock at night.  We were afraid Santa would slide on the hay in the barn, and his reindeer wouldn't stop.

We made the thing to stop Santa's sleigh from wood, and we made a little trough for each reindeer with food on one side, and water on the other.  

I went up to my loft.  It was about 45 degrees that night.  That's cold in Texas.  There wasn't any snow on the ground.  I was sleepless so I stared at the stars, and tossed and turned.    Aunt Lisa and Uncle Vinny  were asleep in their beds in the farmhouse.  I climbed down the ladder, and sat in one of the stalls.  I put a cover down by Jake, one of  Vinny's  baby  bulls who was only about a month old.  I petted Jake,  and talked to him all night long.

Uncle Vinny had an old watch that he hung by the door of the barn. At 3 A.M. on Christmas morning...the barn doors flew open.  

I was a little frightened.

In came deer with beautiful leather saddles.  Their  names were engraved in gold on the leather saddles.  

Rudolph led the way.

Then came Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.

I stood up in amazement.  The reindeer seemed like magical creatures.  

After rows and rows of reindeer came in, next came the most beautiful sleigh I had ever seen.   It had wheels.  It was red with a gold finish.  It was HUGE, and barely fit through the front barn doors.

On the back of the sleigh was this big red velvet sack.  The top was tied with a green and gold entwined cord.  It was a big cord.  Where the two strands met each other there was a green tassel. 

It took me a minute to take it all in. 

I didn't notice at first someone was in the front seat:  a man......a Big Jolly Man with pink cheeks like he had been out in the cold.  His hat and his outfit was as red as an apple picked off the tree.  His black boots shined like he had just polished it. 

I saw him turn around to his bag. 

He said, "Hey, John." 

I ducked under the stall door.

He said:  "Come on out, John." as he laughed.

I got the courage up, and stood up.  I opened the stall door, and walked out.

Me:  "I dropped - um - um - my ugh ugh - coin.  I dropped my coin."

Santa:  "Okay, John.  Do you want to come up here?"

He extended one glove down to me.  

Me:  "REALLY?  Is that allowed even?"

Santa:  "I don't see why not."

I grabbed his glove, and he pulled me up like it took him no effort at all.

I sat in the front seat of Santa's sleigh.  It was a bench that stretched across, and it was covered in the softest seat cushion ever.  I was just amazed.  I didn't know what to say at first.  I couldn't help but look at that huge sack he had in the back.

Santa:  "So, John,  you think I got something in there for you?"

Me:  "I hope so, but I hope you have something in there for Aunt Lisa, too.  Here's what happened, Santa:  Aunt Lisa let her neighbor borrow her sewing machine , and her neighbor broke it.  Lisa liked her sewing machine."    

I hopped off the sleigh:  the biggest jump I've ever made.  I grabbed the book Aunt Lisa made of fabric, and threw it to Santa.

Me:  "Can you help me up again?"

He helped me up.

Me:  "Now:  You can open it."

Santa opened the fabric book, and looked through it. 

He was quiet, and he smiled.

Me:  "Do you see? This is why Aunt Lisa needs a sewing machine.  She sewed all this by hand."

Santa put the book to his other side.

Santa:  "Your Aunt  Lisa is a good woman, isn't she?

I agreed.

Santa:  "John, close your eyes.  I've got something for you."

I peeked, and saw him untie the big tassel.  He had to stand up on the chair just to get inside the bag.  He searched and searched, and finally found mine.  He gave it to me.  It was wrapped beautifully with a big blue bow on top.

Santa:  "John, don't open this until I'm gone."

Me:  "I promise.  Santa, please wait here until I get back."

I hopped down, climbed up the ladder to the loft, and sat the gift Santa gave to me next to my mattress. 

I climbed back down the ladder and said:  " Santa,  your reindeer might be hungry and thirsty. Uncle Vinny and I made  a trough for each of your reindeer.  May I give it to them?" 

Santa:  How about if I lend you a hand?

He got out of the sleigh, and I swore the ground beneath my feet shook.  Santa  helped me lift each trough that we had stored in the stalls.

I scooted the troughs because they were so heavy.  Santa lifted each one up like it was no problem for him.  I took Rudolph's and he did all the rest.  He said I could pet his reindeer as they ate.

Me:  "My Aunt Lisa made you cookies and milk.  I know you get a lot of those, but these are worth it. "

Santa sat on the ground, right next to Jake, Uncle Vinny's baby cow.  He ate one cookie at a time, and dipped each one in his milk.  Milk dripped down his beard.

Santa:  "Do you want one John?"

Me:  "Really?  Don't tell Aunt Lisa.  She told me not to eat them."

He put one finger over his mouth and said:  "Shhhh!  It will be our little secret."

I talked to Santa while we ate cookies.  When his reindeer finished eating,  we got up and put the troughs back where we found them.  

Santa put both of his big hands on my shoulders and said: "Well, I best be going.  It was very very nice to meet you."

Me:  "Will you be back next year?"

He got up on his sleigh, and looked down at me:  "Of course I will, and I'm sure you will be waiting."

I opened the back barn doors.  Santa shook the reigns, and the reindeer all started to go...as fast as lightening.  Before I knew it - they were gone.  I looked out of the barn, and watched  them until I could see them no more.

I shut the back barn doors, and said "Good Morning" to Jake.  He didn't care.

I climbed up to my loft, and looked at the present laying next to my bed. 

I stared at the ceiling for the rest of the morning until I heard Uncle Vinny's rooster at sunrise: "Cock-a-doodle doo!"    

I climbed down the loft with my new present, and bolted inside the house.  I told Uncle Vinny and Aunt Lisa what happened.

Lisa looked at me like it was the most precious thing she had ever heard.

I'm pretty sure Uncle Vinny liked it too.  He didn't say.  He was eating.

Aunt Lisa:  "Open the present, and see what Santa gave you."

That year, Santa Claus gave me a journal.  The front and back cover was made of wood.  My name was carved out on the front in fancy letters.  Santa also carved out a pencil to go with it. 

Aunt Lisa examined it and said:  "I have never seen such beautiful work."

Aunt Lisa and Uncle Vinny gave me presents, but I can't remember what they were.   I didn't pay attention to any other  toy except the gift Santa gave me.  I wondered if it really happened.  Every time I doubted there was a spark - a reflection - off the front cover of the notebook.   I wanted a notebook that Christmas, and Santa gave me one.

I never forgot that I saw Santa Claus, even after the Christmas season.  For the next six years  Santa  came back every Christmas morning  at 3 A.M. to Uncle Vinny's  barn.  I waited for him.  We talked, and fed his reindeer like we always did.  Each year he got me something I wanted, and it was homemade.  He always put my name on the gift.  My name was hidden somewhere on the toy, so  it was fun for me to search for it.

Later on in my life,  Uncle Vinny finally told me who that Santa Claus was.  Uncle Vinny said Santa was a man that people barely saw all year except when He came to the stores in Dallas to buy things.  Apparently each Christmas Eve and Christmas morning  he drove to most of the houses in the area.  He  gave out  toys he made, and put each child's name on it.  

As I look back and remember, the other kids were happy Santa brought them a toy.  They played with it for a while, but once they lost the fascination with it - it ended up in the trash can.

I asked Uncle Vinny:  "If you see one of those toys in the trash - save it for me."

Uncle Vinny used to pick them (quite a few of them) out of the trash cans.

Come Christmas morning I gave the toys back to Santa.  He re-made each one  into something beautiful.

The last time I saw Santa, I was 13 years old. 

Santa:  "John, I have never in my life, met a person like you.  I sure hope other boys and girls grow up to be like you."

Me:  "Well, Santa, no disrespect - but I don't think you want other kids to grow up like me."

Santa:  " Yes I do, John.  I'm right."

I watched  Santa drive away for the last time...like I did for so many years.  When he was out of my view,  a  shine remained - like a glimmer of HOPE as he faded away.

This is the true story I tell to my children, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren,  and to the love of my life.

A Gift for Santa

 By John D.

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, 

and invite a friend!

Copyright 1953 Marcia Norwood

Mary Marcia

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

 

thegraphicsfairy.com

  THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Clement Clarke Moore
or Henry Livingston

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."