Christmas is that time of year when you can wear underwear on the outside of your clothes ad people think it’s cool. OK, actually, that’s Halloween… but in last night’s scenario it also applied (as demonstrated in the picture for this post).
I got a text from my little brother on the 23rd (the day before Christmas Eve) saying that it was pivotal that I be home by 4:30 the next evening. I had lots of things to do before then, including all of Christmas shopping, a thorough cleaning of the house (I hate coming home after a vacation to a dirty house), a half day of work and some laundry.
The next day, I called my Mom requesting explanation for my early arrival. My brother had made it sound as if the request had come from her. She informed me that the 4:30 thing was actually my brother’s idea, and that it was not her privilege to disclose more. After a little more hassling, I realized that neither she nor my brother was going to budge on the issue. So I packed up and headed home.
As I entered the house a few minutes after 4:00, Jason (the brother) headed back to his room with a mischievous smile on his face. He returned with four bulging plastic bags full of toys and set them down in front of me.
“Merry Christmas,” he said.
“Um… thank you?” I replied. “What’s this all about?”
“We are going to wrap these presents, dress up like Santa and his elf, and give some kids a Christmas.”
I was struck dumb. Apparently for the past few weeks, he and my Mother have been corresponding with some inner-city missionaries. They had located a single mother with a 3-year-old and 4-year-old child. The older of the two is a boy named Adrian, and the younger girl is Carlie. They didn’t have much for Christmas, and needed a little help. My brother an Mom went shopping and got them warm clothes, toys and even a gift card for groceries. It was awesome.
We got out the wrapping paper and started wrapping presents. We filled our Santa bag with the wrapped gifts and then went and dressed up in our costumes. I’m glad I got to wear long johns for many reasons, the first being that it was freakishly cold outside. The second… well… nobody should ever be forced to see me in shorty Santa shorts with these white hairy legs. Honestly, it probably would have scared the children.
When we were all dressed up, we jumped in the car and headed up to the west side of Salt Lake. We found the apartment complex where the kids lived and started looking for the apartment. Of course, we had to walk around the entire building before we found it. At one point, we got stopped by some large, scary looking men. One of them looked at my brother (Santa) toting his heavy bag of gifts and said, “Hey, is that for me?”
My brother (a fairly large man himself) looked back through his beard and said, “Nope, you’ve been naughty this year.”
“Oh yeah, right,” the man chuckled. “I forgot you were watching all year… that sucks.”
We hurried to the apartment to avoid being hassled again and knocked on the door. The mom answered and just started laughing. “You guys look great!”
“Ho ho ho!” Jason shouted. “Are Adrian and Carlie home?”
We peeked around the corner and saw Adrian and Carlie freeze. Their eyes got wide and shot to the door as I danced in.
“Merry Christmas! Are you Adrian and Carlie?”
Adrian sat at the table in awe with a smile. “I’m Adrian. I’m Adrian. I’m Adrian,” he repeated over and over.
Carlie came over to me shyly and smiled. “Have you been good this year?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“How good?” I asked her. “Have you been this good?” I said indicating a small amount with my fingers, “Or THIS good?” and I spread my arms apart.
She spread her arms like mine and said, “THIS good.”
Santa then asked them for help unloading the presents from his bag. The two children beamed as they pulled out package after package. We stacked the space around their tree high with some much needed gifts. Their mother just stood there laughing. I don’t think she was expecting a show.
Before I left, I asked the kids if they would give me a Christmas hug. They both nodded and before I could even get to my knees, they had latched their arms around my neck. Then they turned and hugged Santa.
Mom whipped out her camera and asked if she could take a picture. We all turned around and Adrian wrapped his arms around our necks and giggled while he hung on tight. Carlie cuddled right up to me on the other side.
We left that night having turned someone’s meager Christmas in to an experience that may be remembered for years to come… if not by them, most certainly by me.
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”
Dr. Seuss
