Childhood – I remember it like it was yesterday. We had already gone up for the night and were asleep a few days before Christmas. The year was 1959, I was three years old, my brother Larry had just turned 5, and my kid sister Nancy was 2 years old. My father had a debilitating stroke that left him partially paralyzed on his left side. So, this was the first Christmas where he was home and things were back to normal in our house. We had neighbors who were very good to us during the time our dad was laid up; they were asked to be my kid sister’s godparents.
We referred to them as Uncle Merle (Hawks) and Aunt Peg. Uncle Merle looked exactly like the Coca-Cola Santa Claus on posters, Billboards, and the like. He also had a deep, bellowing voice and a hearty laugh. So, you can imagine, to our surprise, being awakened as a special visitor had come to visit. My father roused us, and as we headed downstairs, we were greeted by my mother, who was holding her Kodak Brownie movie camera. She handed my father the strobe bar for lighting to capture the moment as we stepped into the living room. A strobe bar, for those of you unfamiliar, was a bar of lights that would blind you. It would get so hot it had an elongated handle as the bulbs would get hot enough to burn the skin off if one of the five bulbs happened to touch you.
It was then we saw Santa in full regalia, beckoning us to the high-backed chair, to come sit on his lap and tell him our Christmas wishes. He spoke, taking his time with us, answering our questions, and gave us a coloring book and some barley candy before standing to leave. My brother Larry, always the skeptic, said, “If you’re really Santa, where are your reindeer?” Without skipping a beat, he motioned us to the front door. Now our street had these big sycamore trees in front, with a break for the streetlight just in front of the house. He said, “Now, look closely into the street just where the light meets the tree shadows, you will see them moving about on the roof. Opening the door, cool air was ushered in, as he said, “Go ahead and take a closer look”! Well, it was windy, and the movement of those leaves and branches in the shadows convinced us that reindeer were on our roof. We were ushered back inside and started heading back to bed. He let out several more rings from the bells hanging on his suit and several H0! Ho! Hos! Yelling on Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, more muted with each name until his voice faded out of earshot and all was quiet again. Leaving three children in awe!
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