Santa is really real! Wait! Let me explain...
As a child, we’re all taught about Santa, and we lucky ones would even get to go to a store or shopping mall and sit on Santa’s lap. We’d tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas, and be told by Santa that “he’d see” and that we “needed to be good.”
Eventually, my friends stopped believing, but not me! No way! I had proof!
You see, every Christmas Eve, after the Christmas cookies were set out by the fireplace, we would hide! My favorite place was behind the recliner because it swiveled, but my other siblings had their own favorite spots. After we were all hidden, the lights would be turned off except for one lamp near the front door, which didn’t provide much light, but, along with the light from the fireplace, we could see quite well.
After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably only a few minutes), we’d hear the sleigh bells ringing and MAN were they close!
Then… OMG! We’d hear noise up on the rooftop!
Before we knew it, the front door opened and Santa would enter with a GIANT red bag slung over his shoulder and would announce himself with a very jolly “HO! HO! HO!”
I would be giddy with nervousness! Being quiet was almost too much!
Slowly, Santa would unpack his red bag, placing the presents under the tree. With each present, I would fidget, wondering if that one was for me! Before it was over, the excitement was almost overwhelming!
Once the bag was empty, Santa would reach over and scoop up the cookies, down the milk, and make his way out the door.
We weren’t allowed to move until we heard more clomping on the roof and the sleighbells fading into the distance.
While most kids had figured out Santa wasn’t real, I had absolute, irrefutable proof, and I would fight you over it! My friends and classmates never could quite believe my story, and, years later, I learned that my mom had fielded several calls from teachers and other parents questioning my “vivid imagination.”
These Santa visits began when I was in Kindergarten and continued until my little sister was in 2nd grade and I was in 4th, and a family event disrupted the visits.
Time moved on, we grew up, and, for a while, memories of Santa's visits got misplaced.
Then, one day, several of my siblings tried to resurrect the Santa visits for their own children, and the moments I got to see were such great fun!
By the time I had kids, my nieces and nephews had long since outgrown Santa’s visits, so I was a little afraid my kids would miss out on this wonderful experience.
And then, one year, just a few weeks before Christmas, my mom called and asked if I would like for Santa to visit! I was so excited! Honestly, I didn’t even know Santa still made visits! We talked a bit, and arrangements were made. Our house was already the gathering spot, but a few confirmation calls needed to be made.
By the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Memaw, Papaw, some uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews were all in attendance. All of us adults were laughing and joking about what was coming, and then there’d be the inevitable “shushing” as Memaw and others tried to keep the visit a secret.
Finally, after a nice dinner and some quick cleanup, it was time for the main event, so we all headed to the living room where we told the kids what was happening. There was SO much excitement. 
The tree had, of course, been decorated and was lit, the stockings were hung, the cookies were put out and one of the little ones stressed over their not being any carrots for Santa's reindeer... so that had to be dealt with. Once everything was in order, everyone was instructed to hide because “Santa won’t come if people are still awake!”
Aunt Shelia had coaxed one of my kids to hide with her behind the couch. After some maneuvering, she managed to sit cross-legged on the floor and get my son on her lap… they had chosen the spot with the best view of the tree, which stood about 10’ away and was framed by a giant picture window.
After everyone was safely hidden, the lights were all turned off except for the foyer light, and then it started… the sleighbells were ringing, the clomping on the roof. Suddenly, Santa came in through the front door with a jolly “Ho! Ho! Ho!” After some jostling to get the bag off his shoulder, he carefully placed the presents under the already crowded tree, grabbed the cookies, slugged down the milk, and left.
After he was safely gone, we started coming out of hiding. As Aunt Sheila and her hiding buddy emerged, we could all see the front of her clothes were soaked… the child on her lap had gotten so excited he peed himself.
No one gets that excited over a Santa that doesn’t exist!
Santa is REAL, and he only stops coming when we stop believing, and Santa didn’t get to be 1,755 years old without a lot of believers!
So, open your hearts and remember when you believed in Santa and see what Christmas miracle awaits you on Christmas morning!
P.S. That photo of me and Santa? I was sitting in a coffee shop working on this Story when Santa came up and asked me what was so important. I told him I was writing a story about when, as a child, he would come to my house and leave toys. Santa got a twinkle in his eye and said, "So, you remember!" I laughed, and he said, "You know, you're never too old to sit on Santa's lap!" and so, I did.
So, how did these Santa visits come to be?
More than 75 years ago (well before I was born), my mom had come across a Santa suit at a garage sale and, on a whim, bought it. Then, Mom and the other wives of the family convinced the men to dress as Santa and visit each other’s houses. There were 7 houses, so this took extreme coordination and fallback plans.
The men (my dad and uncles) would team up and take turns going to each other’s houses. They started at the houses with the younger kids (because we went to bed earlier) and finished at the houses with the older kids. Sometimes, because of distance, they would meet up at gas stations to exchange the Santa suit and pass off any uneaten cookies.
When they got to the destination house, they’d park down the street, and, if needed, put on the Santa suit and wait for the lights to dim. Once the lights had dimmed, one would ring the sleighbells and, through some serious ingenuity, make the sounds of reindeer clomping on the roof.
Santa would come in the front door with a "Ho! Ho! Ho!", put the presents under the tree, grab the cookies, and leave all the while being careful not to speak or make eye contact (after all, even a child can recognize their favorite uncle).
After Santa had left, the mom had to call the next house and tell them Santa had just been there! That was code for the next house to start getting ready.
Oh, and the clomping of reindeer feet on the rooftop? That was 6 2x4 blocks about 4” long, all tied together in a line by rope with a 12’ section (the handle) so they could pull the blocks back down. The uncle manning the sleighbell would sling the blocks up on the roof (sometimes several times) and then pull them back down. On those snowy Christmas mornings, you could look at the roof and see where the reindeer had been! I’m sorry, but you just can’t deny that kind of hard evidence.
How did Santa get the presents? They were always carefully hidden, usually in the backseat of a car in the driveway or on the back porch. I had sat ours in the back of my car.
Back in the 70s, when we’d talk about this at family reunions, the uncles would just get these smiles that came from deep within their souls. At the time, they probably didn’t want to do it, but decades later, seeing how so many of my cousins and siblings had such fond memories, I think they grew to understand how meaningful those moments were and the enduring memories they created.
Which is why when my mom called and asked if I wanted a visit from Santa, I was both shocked and gleefully happy! I didn’t know she still had the Santa suit, as I’d not seen nor heard about it in years, and no one talked about Santa’s visits anymore. But let that be a lesson, always believing in Santa and Christmas miracles is the surest way to get one!