Tag Archives: Christmas presents

Santa to the Rescue

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Who would’ve thought Santa would be the one to hopefully solve the mystery of some of Ben’s medical issues he’s been having since getting home from the hospital almost three weeks ago. 

Along with his problems with his blood sugar out of control, he had begun losing weight. Without trying to. And without eating less than normal. Within three weeks he’d lost 23 lbs. His clothes were getting extremely loose on him, and he was losing muscle mass as well. He was tired more than usual and had at least one episode per day of a low blood sugar attack. 

And try as he might, he was unable to get an appointment with his primary physician for another 3 weeks. By then, if things kept on like they were going, he’d be in real trouble. And we didn’t know what to do.

Finally, our daughter suggested maybe Santa could help him. (Our daughter is 35 years old with three children of her own.) She told him she’d already talked to him about her dad, and Santa had told her he thought he could help out, and that he wanted to see him the next morning. 

What did we have to lose? 

She told us where Santa would be, so the next morning we headed over to see him. There were a lot of other people there as well, and we were going to have a wait. Normally Ben wouldn’t agree to wait several hours for something, but after all, it was the Christmas season, and Santa had been very insistent to our daughter that he needed to see her dad.

So we put his name on the waiting list, and sat down to wait. There were other people waiting as well, and we struck up conversations with several of them while we waited.

Hard to imagine at our age, five days before Christmas, we found ourselves waiting to see Santa. And hoping he’d be able to get us what we needed for Christmas. Our daughter even texted us to let us know Santa knew he was there and would see us as soon as he could. After all, Santa is a busy man this time of year, and there are lots of people he needs to take care of.  

So we continued to wait. And after three hours it was our turn. We were led into a private room to wait for him, and this time the man himself came in shortly thereafter, apologizing for the wait, and had my husband tell him exactly what had been going on. Santa listened intently, asking questions where necessary, and after he’d heard the story, told us he thought he knew what he needed to do to get him on the right track.

“Let me run a few tests so I can confirm a couple of things, and I believe we can get things under control.” That sounded good to us. We certainly needed some Christmas magic to help us out. 

Twenty minutes or so later he was back with good news. The test results were as he’d suspected, and it should be simple matter of adjusting some of his medications that seemed to be causing the weight loss. “Try this for a week,” he said, “and then come back next week and let’s see how things are going.” AFTER Christmas? Wow, we were a bit surprised that he’d still be around after Christmas, but we promised to be there.

We left feeling like things were finally starting to get resolved, and none too soon. Christmas is a time of surprises, and a time when the unexpected can certainly happen. And we believe it did.

In this case, Santa is a very good and caring physician whose name is actually Dr. Santa who works at an urgent care facility near our home. Our daughter had met him there several months ago and discovered he and Mrs. Santa lived near them. She’d remembered him and decided it anyone could help her did, it would be him!

And we are believing we’re finally getting some answers to some very worrisome questions, and that Santa gave us an early Christmas gift, probably like he did many times each day he works.

He may not live at the North Pole, or have a white beard, and he wears a white coat instead of a red suit, but he’s one Santa we are very glad to have met! And we believe he gave us just what we wanted – and needed – for Christmas.

The Magic of Santa Claus

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There’s something special about believing in Santa Claus when you’re a child. I remember how excited I became the closer it got to Christmas, just thinking about what I might find under the tree Christmas morning. I remember being so excited I could hardly go to sleep on Christmas Eve. 

My mom made sure we left cookies and milk out for him on Christmas Eve, and she always emphasized that I had to stay in bed and get to sleep so he’d come with all the presents. It was sure hard to do.

But somehow I managed to go to sleep and sleep through the night (oh, how I wish I could do that now!) and wake up so excited I didn’t know what to do!

And I was always even more excited when I looked under the tree at the wrapped presents that hadn’t been there the night before. He’d been there! He really had! Santa Claus himself! And I knew it because he’d also left some cookie crumbs on the plate and almost finished the milk in his glass. I knew he was real.

That special feeling of wonder and excitement just can’t be duplicated. Children need that wonderment, that excitement, that feeling of awe and amazement that only comes once a year, on Christmas morning, under that Christmas tree.

I still remember when one of my friends told me there was no Santa Claus, and I came home from school so upset I didn’t know what to do. When I told my mother about it though, I didn’t ask her if my friend was correct. Because I knew in my heart she was wrong. I told my mom I was upset because now my friend wouldn’t have Santa visit her anymore and bring her presents.

Ahhh….the wonder and magic of Santa Claus to a child at Christmas is just indescribable sometimes.

 And it’s so important.

Our adult minds can’t fathom and certainly can’t believe in the man in the red suit who never ages and who lives in the utter cold of the North Pole with his wife and a bunch of elves who spend all year working tirelessly to make one night the most special one ever for children around the world.

We can’t fathom how this man can get in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, of all things, filled with an inexhaustible supply of toys and gifts, and deliver them to every child in the world on Christmas Eve, stopping long enough at each house to also sample the cookies and milk left out for him by sleeping children.

We can’t understand it with our adult minds because we’ve lost the gift of imagination. We’ve lost the ability, and perhaps even the desire, to see things the way we used to, when the world was a far different place. Many of us have become jaded and cynical, preferring to stomp on the dreams and imagination of others because we don’t believe, and we want others to agree with us, and validate our truths.

Let me tell you this, the wonder and excitement and joy I see in the eyes of our granddaughters when they think about Santa Claus, when they see him, when they talk about him…that’s all I need to know how real he is.

And I briefly go back to being that little girl in this picture seeing Santa Claus in Wanamaker’s department store and telling him what I want for Christmas and knowing (hopefully) I’m going to get it.

I see the excitement in our older granddaughter’s eyes and hear it in her voice when she holds this little green Beanie Baby reindeer we have with our decorations and saying how she really, REALLY wants Santa to bring her one like it. And talks about how she’s going to introduce hers to this one and let them play together.

And guess what. I truly believe Santa is going to do just that. 

Because he’s Santa Claus.

And for those who don’t believe, or don’t want their children to believe, well I have to say I’m sorry, because you really don’t know what you’re missing out on.