Ghosts of Christmas Past- Santa Edition

Sometimes you have to play a bigger part in the Christmas season than you are generally comfortable doing. How do you turn down the opportunity to play Santa? In the spirit of the season my older brother Jay and I have both donned the garb and played the part. Regular readers have by now seen enough pictures of our younger brother David to realize he does not have the "full figured" look to pull off an appearance as Santa. I don't know the year Jay played Santa. For me it was 1998. We were foster parents at the time for Victor. The children's Christmas party for the Hill Correctional Center was held at the cinemas in the Sandburg Mall. Carol took Victor in and I showed up in full Santa gear later. Victor kept asking Carol where I was and when he saw "Santa" he told her that "Santa" sounded a lot like Jeff. Sometimes, like kids belief in Santa, you suspend reality even in the face of strong evidence that your belief is wrong. It explains as adults our willingness to buy lottery tickets thinking we will win the big prize.

This is Victor and I at the party. He is telling me what he would like for Christmas. He was a great kid and should have had a better deal in life than he got.

This is me at home before the appearance at the party. All I can say is the fake beard is by far the worst part.

This is me and our fur child at the time Candy Mae. She was a wonderful dog. Unlike Victor she knew who Santa was. Try as you may there is really no fooling a dog's sense of smell.

This is my older brother Jay doing his bit as Santa. I must say he did a fine job.

Santa was putting the moves on Jay's wife Joan.

Maybe those two should have gotten a more private room.

Christmas should be about family and in keeping with that we are going a bit past Santa today. The picture below is of Jay's wife Joan being an elf in one of the living windows in downtown Monmouth. For those from Galesburg who remember that talking Christmas tree in Bergner's. Yep, some years that person hanging out inside the tree talking to you was Joan.

Jay and Joan's daughters Kate and Ellen also got in the act playing parts in the living windows in Monmouth,

Sometimes you get into the spirit of the season so strong that you step out of your personal comfort zone to make to make the holiday special for someone else. It is the true meaning of the season. Doing something for someone else with no expectation of reward or recognition.