Mood: “The Christmas Waltz” as sung by Nancy Wilson
Being Santa Claus
I have been fortunate enough to have never lost that Christmas Feeling. There have been times where it was hard, s in the year after losing my brother Doug. But even then, there was the Need to continue the Feeling and Spirit for his daughter and writing and illustrating her Santa Letter for that year. So, it may have been perhaps shadowed by the loss of him, but balanced by the Christmas memories with him, as bittersweet as they were, and the crafting of my niece’s Santa Letter.
For a good ten or so years before moving to the East Coast, I was involved in the Christmas play the theater company I was part of put on. The directors would always do more than just rehearse; they would have exercises designed to bolster the Christmas Feeling and Spirit for the entire cast to so inject it into the show. There would also be a Secret Santa gift exchange for the last week leading up to and through performance weekends, as well as a potluck for the final day of shows.
Here, I was very fortunate enough to portray the lobby Santa for the children to sit upon his lap and ask him for what they would like for Christmas. To begin with, it was a show I was not actually a part of and the company director who wasn’t available to do it as he usually did had asked me to fill in for him. Let me tell you, it was a daunting thing to contemplate and I almost said ‘no’.
I am so glad I did not!
After that year, I was cast as Father Christmas in The Loin, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Both in the show and as the lobby ‘Santa’, though that year, of course, it was as Father Christmas!
Still, how to describe the ‘role’ of Santa in that ‘mall’ capacity? Until that first child begins to tell you what he or she wishes for and you can tell they truly Believe, it was was absolutely Life-changing for me! I suddenly realized this was no Small Thing, this was a deep and serious responsibility! I might say it transformed me into Santa, which it certainly did for the youngest of most of the children, but that would be too much and too far.
What I feel it did for me was in at least infuse me with that ‘Santa Spirit’, that Christmas Magic!
Let me explain it this way, the single event of all the times I did this: this very small little girl sat upon my lap. She was very shy and just sat with her head bowed and her hands in her lap. She didn’t respond to any of ‘Santa’s’ questions and there were several gently coaxing attempts. Finally, Mom shrugged and began to hold out her hands to take the child. First, of course, was the giving of the candy cane, as no child leaves Santa without at least a little gift. I do not recall if it was before or after giving her the candy cane, but before she was taken by her mother, she turned in and absolutely latched her arms around my neck in a hug and this tiny voice spoke with her face buried just over my shoulder, ‘I love you, Santa.’
There were a few tears as Santa needed a little time to compose himself after that!
That was the Magic of Christmas!
Be well, Merry Christmas and pax vobiscum!
