It was the weekend of Thanksgiving, 1998. I was on my third week of ‘Catastrophe Duty’ for American Family Insurance, working in Appleton, Wisconsin. Not all that far from home, but working through the holiday made it seem even farther. You meet all kinds of people in hotels on holidays, but on this particular occasion, I happened to meet Santa Claus. He was working at the mall next to the hotel, listening to kids, posing for pictures, and generally doing a great job playing the part. He was from Montana, and would sign up for jobs like this every year. He really looked the part, too.
Sue and the kids were coming up to visit on Saturday. I asked Santa if he minded seeing my kids when they came up. He was more than glad to help. I promised we would not take up much of his time. He didn’t seem to mind.
It was in the late afternoon. The timing was perfect. Sue and the kids pulled into the hotel parking lot. Some other guest had a reindeer parked outside. No kidding. Not Santa’s reindeer, just some other guest. Hey, it was Wisconsin. Sue had told the kids that Santa was staying at the hotel, so when they saw the reindeer, they knew this was serious business.
Santa had just entered the building from the long hallway on the east when my wife and kids entered the lobby. I dashed down and told him we were ready any time, then ran back and gave Sue and the kids a great big long hug. Santa came in wearing his outfit, sans jacket and cap. This was Santa in suspenders, off duty, but ever the Santa.
He sat down with the kids on the lobby couch and they looked wide-eyed at this amazing man. Just then, they did something he did not expect. The children pulled out a small present for Santa. Now normally Santa knows how to handle every situation with kids as they always come up with surprises, but this made him come to a breath-taking stop. Later on he told me, no kid had ever given him a present. This had hit him in his core. You have to remember, he is still a man, it is Thanksgiving, he is far away from his home and family, and these two precious kids are giving him something from their hearts.
Each year after that, the kids would get a postcard from Santa, via the North Pole, somewhere in Montana. I don’t care what they say, he was the real deal.
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