When she was young, she never had a very merry Christmas because she was an orphan. She grew up going from the orphanage to various foster homes. The best Christmas present she ever received was when she was eight years old and the local firemen came to the orphanage and gave all the kids presents. One fireman gave her a special Christmas card. He said that he made it just for her!
The Santa on this card was no ordinary Santa because Santa was all dressed up in fuzzy red fleece – the type of red fleece you could actually touch.
She loved touching the fuzzy fleece of Santa’s suit so much that it actually started to wear off the card!
And now that she’s a mom, she and her kids make these fuzzy red fleecy Santa cards every year.
Last year, right after Thanksgiving she began volunteering at the local nursing home.
Around Christmas time, she met Mr. Wilkinson there.
Mr. Wilkinson was quite old and his health was failing. No family or friends ever visited him. He never spoke. All he did was stare blankly at the wall opposite his bed in his tiny room.
On the days leading up to Christmas, the woman brought Mr. Wilkinson small gifts. One day it was fudge. The next day it was a little teddy bear. Then some sugar cookies.
Every day she would spend time with Mr. Wilkinson. She would tell him stories, sing carols for him, and show him pictures
Her goal was to bring Mr. Wilkinson back to life even if it were only for a few moments.
On Christmas Eve, she brought Mr. Wilkinson one of the Christmas cards her children had made -- the ones with the fuzzy red fleecy Santas.
When she showed the card to Mr.Wilkinson, he sat up. His eyes opened wide. With shaking hands, he grasped the card, looked up at the woman and softly said, “Where did you get this?”
After she told him that her children had made it, he said, “God bless you.”
And a tear rolled down his cheek.
Everyone at the nursing home who witnessed this was stunned.
For a very brief moment, Mr. Wilkinson had come back to life.
Mr. Wilkinson kept the card by his side and he touched the fuzzy fleece of Santa’s suit so much that it actually started to wear off the card!
That handmade card was the last Christmas present Mr. Wilkinson ever received.
He died two weeks after Christmas.
The woman went to his funeral. Not too many others did.
But there was a contingent of men dressed in uniforms. They were the local firemen. They were there because Mr. Wilkinson had been a fireman himself for over 30 years.
As a matter of fact, he was the fireman responsible for making and giving out the fuzzy red fleecy Santa Claus cards so many years ago.
