52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 9 (FAMILY SECRET)
When I first thought about Family Secret I was thinking about historical scandals.
When the email prompt arrived from Amy telling of her grandfather secretly playing Santa I decided to share our family's Secret Santa story.
Christmas 2024 Chris was asked to be Santa for his workplace's Christmas Party .
This was the first time he had ever been asked.
During that party he held 2 roles.
He was the cook for the pancake breakfast doing all the prep in the morning and cooking at the event, and clean up after.
Once most of the party goers had eaten he slipped away to get Santa ready.
He was snuck out the backdoor by his secret service entourage.
His driver drove around the block so he could make a grand entrance from the front.
As they pulled into the front driveway 'Here Comes Santa Claus" began announcing his arrival.
The moment he got out of the car the crowd erupted with excitement.
Those kids did not see Chris - they only saw Santa.
Each of the children had a chance to visit with Santa who magically knew details about their lives that convinced them he was the real Santa.
He decided to use the vinyl boot covers that sat on top of his signature Birkenstock sandals he wears all year round.
One child asked him when the vinyl slipped to reveal the sandal, and Santa replied that normally he's in the North Pole so finds the weather in Canada too warm for boots.
I had wondered if any of them might recognize him as the person who jovially handed them their pancakes earlier.
As I listened to the chatter happening all over not one child said anything suggesting he wasn't the real Santa.
In fact I heard some talking about him being the real Santa because of what he knew when talking to them.
One of the children asked if they could do a Christmas Train, and Santa wholeheartedly agreed.
It was so much fun to watch the kids and Santa traveling all over with the train of kids while the parents snapped photos.
When it was my turn to sit on Santa's knee he whispered in my ear "When I walked into the crowd of kids even I believed Santa had arrived".
The magic of Santa was enchanting.
As they were leaving many of the children stopped to say goodbye to Santa.
One youngster had tears in his eyes as he hugged Santa.
Chris was honestly the best Santa.
He was jovial, fun, and believable even if he was wearing Birkenstock sandals.
When someone you love is magical!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Photos:
Personal
Links:
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/
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