As some of you may know, I have been working up at the santa set at Valley Fair Mall. This job is perfect for me because I get a little bit of extra money coming in for the holidays and it also worked perfectly with my psycho school schedule. Originally it started out as me helping out my brother in law, Greg, but I think that this seasonal job has gotten me more in the Christmas spirit than anything else I could ever do. I just wanted to share some of the most precious experiences that I have had so far this season:
While I was at work today we got a group of like 8 little kids that were all cousins there with their aunt. They didn't have the money to get pictures taken, but they were able to still visit. There wasn't anyone else in line to see Santa at the time so we let this group take as much time as they wanted hanging out with Santa. The little kids in the group couldn't wait to sit on his lap and start rattling off their memorized lists. They took up the majority of the Santa's lap time. However, in the same group was a girl that couldn't have been more than ten. She is right at that age where she's too cool for everything and Christmas is beginning to lose that childhood magic that we all cherish so much. Although VERY reluctant, her aunt eventually convinced her to sit on Santa's lap. I am so blessed that I was standing right next to Santa when I heard her Christmas wish. She said, very quietly, "All I want is for my daddy to stop being sick all of the time. No more surgeries." Santa replied, "That just shows how wonderful of a person you are that you are thinking of someone else."
I had to go hide behind the register for a second so that I didn't burst into tears in front of that amazing little girl. She has probably dealt with more hard times than most children her age and unfortunately enough, it sounds like she the hard times are not over.I hope that wherever that little girl's father is that he knows how much his little girl loves him.
About ten minutes later I had another girl about the same age, maybe a little younger, come up to Santa and ask for her mom to get better. Santa asked if she wanted any toys and she said no, just her mom getting better could be her Christmas present. These children must be under so much stress and they are so selfless.
The last little child before our break had just lost his father and he seemed like he was kind of in a daze while he was waiting in line. When it was finally his turn, he lit up. He was about five so I don't know how much of his father's death and can understand at his age, but it was so precious to see him light up among all of the sadness that must be around him right now.
On a happier note, I had a group of about eight handicap adults come on to the set a couple of days ago. I started tearing up because of the sincerity in their joy. It was so precious to see people that were in their 30's and 40's still carrying that childhood magic of Christmas. You could tell that seeing Santa made their day.
Another benefit of working with Santa is that I am the coolest Aunt ever! Devin's niece would not believe that I work with Santa so she began to quiz be on Santa facts. Luckily for me, I love Christmas movies so I knew all of the answers to her questions. My favorite was when she asked me questions like, "Have you met Buddy the Elf?" and without hesitation said, "No, because Buddy moved to New York." After a series of questions, she finally believed me. She went from total disbelief to silence and awe. Her silence was broken by her making me promise to put in a good word for her with the big man :)
I still can't believe that the semester is over and Christmas is pretty much here. I'm sad that I am only working two more days, but I am so blessed that I am able to be surrounded by the little ones that make Christmas magical.
Did I mention how much I love this job?!
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