In 1983 I worked at a small five and ten called "Cornet". At Christmas time, my boss said that he needed a Santa and he was willing to pay about twice what he was paying me, so I asked Richard if he would be interested. He said yes. He was working part-time at American Savings at the time, and we needed the extra money. He took the Santa suit with us when we went to visit Rich's sister Pam and her family during the season. He came to visit our nephew, Nathan when he was just about three years old. He was so impressed that Santa came to visit him at his house. Of course, at that time, everything about Santa was fake. He had a fake tummy and a fake beard, but he loved it.
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| At Pam & Matthew's house in 1983. |
Then, early in 2014, while at the dermatologist, Richard got, what my dad referred to as "ugly cream." It basically chemically burns off pre-cancers from your face. You apply it regularly for a period of time and various places to expose, and heal those places. Dad called it "ugly cream" because it made you ugly with sores all over your face. Richard's face was pretty bad, bad enough that he didn't want to shave, so he started growing a beard, figuring that after the sores had healed, he would shave. He still had the beard during the Christmas season in 2014. Richard went with the grandkids to see Santa at Bass Pro, which always had a wonderful real-bearded Santa. They stood in line for 3 hours and by the time they got to Santa, Richard said he wanted a picture with him since he stood in line that long. The Santa looked at him and asked him if he lived locally. Richard said yes, and Santa said, "I could sure use some help here." By this time there was about a week left before Christmas, and as he is slow to accomplish things, he never followed through with anything for that year, but the entire next year, he researched Santa. He purchased a Santa suit, boots (I was worried about being about to find ones that would work), a hand-made leather belt, gloves, glasses, bells to give away, books to read, etc.
He started doing home visits as Santa the next year, advertising mostly through Danielle on the Metro wives facebook page and a few other places on Facebook. He was very busy. He did parties at churches, businesses, kid's birthdays, etc. but his favorite still is home visits. He calls them "magical". That started the first year because we thought we would offer short, inexpensive visits in one location, planned and scheduled ahead of time and allowed people to sign up for them. Not very many people did, so I called and cancelled the people that scheduled. At least, I thought I called them all. One of them came to the office we arranged to do this in, and we were called and told that children were there waiting for Santa. I felt sick. Richard felt sick. So, we promised to make it up to them. We did a home visit later that same day for no charge. The little girl was autistic so she had a hard time with things that weren't scheduled, which is why the mom was really worried about Santa not being there at the scheduled time. We arranged a time for Santa to come to her house later that day. The little girl was thrilled to have Santa there! When he gave her the bell she held it close to her chest and just closed her eyes as if it was the most precious gift she had ever received. That visit touched Richard's heart in such a way that he became Santa Claus. He loves the kids, and the kids love him, and he seems to connect in a special way with kids with disabilities.
Last year, he decided to try a mall job. he thought it would be those kind of magical visits all day long. It wasn't, and children were brought in to see him sick and he became sick. Santa can't miss a day of work because if he does, he has to find another Santa to take his place, and the expense of that falls on the Santa with the contract. The Santa to replace you might have to be flown in from acorss the country and the plane flight, the hotel, everything, has to be paid by the Santa with the contract for the mall. By the time Christmas Eve came, he was pretty sick, but the people who book on Christmas Eve have had reservations for a long time, and they pay a lot for those slots, so Santa has to go. He won't be doing a Santa mall job again, but the parties and home visits will continue. He loves it, and he really has become Santa.
He joined the Nevada chapter of the International Brotherhood of Real-bearded Santas. They meet every month all year long. He keeps his beard all year, although I would much rather have him shave, he loves being recognized by children everywhere he goes. He doesn't wear his leg brace when he is Santa, and for the first year he didn't wear his arm brace either, but he got one that is shorter and doesn't show. I feel much better about that. His gloves cover his hand. Last year one of Danielle's friends had their child's picture taken with Santa, and she posted in on FB saying something about how Santa had a fake hand. Danielle explained that it was her dad and that his hand was real, but it didn't work anymore. Of course, the friend felt terrible, but we didn't. It is what it is, and most children don't realize there is an issue at all. If adults do, we are happy to share that Santa is disabled.
So, in the end, Richard really did find his calling or his ministry. It provides a little extra money, but mostly it is fun, and I play the chauffeur and wait in the sleigh outside that looks like a blue Honda Odyssey.
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| Richard as Santa |
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