Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas - A Wonderful Story and a Miracle

 From a friend.

  Christmas - A Wonderful Story and a Miracle

Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2013 12:00:02 -0500

Apparently this is a true story.
It will make you tear up, it did me!


Always believe in MIRACLES! Ten years 
ago, a little boy and his grandmother 
came to see Santa at Mayfair Mall in 
Wisconsin.  The child climbed up on his 
lap, holding a picture of a little girl.

"Who is this?" asked Santa, smiling. 
"Your friend? Your sister?"

"Yes, Santa," he replied.  "My sister, 
Sarah, who is very sick," he said sadly.

Santa glanced over at the grandmother 
who was waiting nearby, and saw her 
dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"She wanted to come with me to see you, 
oh, so very much, Santa!" the child 
exclaimed.  "She misses you," he added 
softly.

Santa tried to be cheerful and encourage 
a smile to the boy's face, asking him 
what he wanted Santa to bring him for 
Christmas.

When they finished their visit, the 
Grandmother came over to help the child 
off his lap, and started to say something 
to Santa, but halted.

"What is it?" Santa asked warmly.

"Well, I know it's really too much to ask 
you, Santa, but .." the old woman began, 
shooing her grandson over to one of 
Santa's elves to collect the little gift
which Santa gave all his young visitors. 

"The girl in the photograph...  my 
granddaughter well, you see ... she has 
leukemia and isn't expected to make it 
even through the holidays," she said 
through tear-filled eyes.  "Is there any 
way, Santa, any possible way that
you could come see Sarah?  That's all 
she's asked for Christmas, is to see 
Santa."

Santa blinked and swallowed hard and 
told the woman to leave information with 
his elves as to where Sarah was, and he 
would see what he could do.  Santa 
thought of little else the rest of that
afternoon.  He knew what he had to do.  

"What if it were MY child lying in that 
hospital bed, dying," he thought with a 
sinking heart, "this is the least I can do."

When Santa finished visiting with all the 
boys and girls that evening, he retrieved 
from his helper the name of the hospital 
where Sarah was staying. He asked the 
assistant location manager how to get to 
Children's Hospital.

"Why?" Rick asked, with a puzzled look 
on his face. Santa relayed to him the 
conversation with Sarah's grandmother 
earlier that day.  "C'mon....  I'll take you 
there," Rick said softly.

Rick drove them to the hospital and 
came inside with Santa.  They found out 
which room Sarah was in.  A pale Rick 
said he would wait out in the hall. Santa 
quietly peeked into the room through the
half-closed door and saw little Sarah on 
the bed.  
The room was full of what appeared to 
be her family; there was the 
Grandmother and the girl's brother he 
had met earlier that day.  A woman
whom he guessed was Sarah's mother 
stood by the bed, gently pushing Sarah's 
thin hair off her forehead.  Another 
woman who he discovered later was 
Sarah's aunt, sat in a chair near the bed 
with weary, sad look on her face.  They 
were talking quietly, and Santa could 
sense the warmth and closeness of the 
family, and their love and concern for 
Sarah. Taking a deep breath, and
forcing a smile on his face, Santa 
entered the room, bellowing a hearty, 
"Ho, ho, ho!"

"Santa!" shrieked little Sarah weakly, as 
she tried to escape her bed to run to him, 
IV tubes in tact. Santa rushed to her side 
and gave her a warm hug. A child the 
tender age of his own son -- 9 years old 
-- gazed up at him with wonder and
excitement.  Her skin was pale and her 
short tresses bore telltale bald patches 
from the effects of chemotherapy.  All he 
saw when he looked at her was a pair of 
huge, blue eyes.  His heart melted, and 
he had to force himself to choke back
tears. Though his eyes were riveted upon 
Sarah's face, he could hear the gasps 
and quiet sobbing of the women in the 
room.

As he and Sarah began talking, the 
family crept quietly to the bedside one by 
one, squeezing Santa's shoulder or his 
hand gratefully, whispering "thank you" 
as they gazed sincerely at him with
shining eyes.  Santa and Sarah talked 
and talked, and she told him excitedly all 
the toys she wanted for Christmas, 
assuring him she'd been a very good
girl that year.  As their time together 
dwindled, Santa felt led in his spirit to 
pray for Sarah, and asked for permission 
from the girl's mother.  She nodded in 
agreement and the entire family circled
around Sarah's bed, holding hands. Santa 
looked intensely at Sarah and asked her 
if she believed in angels.

"Oh, yes, Santa...  I do!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I'm going to ask that angels watch 
over you," he said. Laying one hand on 
the child's head, Santa closed his eyes 
and prayed.  He asked that God touch 
little Sarah, and heal her body from this
disease.  He asked that angels minister 
to her, watch and keep her.  When he 
finished praying, still with eyes closed, he 
started singing softly, "Silent Night, Holy 
Night....  all is calm, all is bright." 

The family joined in, still holding hands, 
smiling at Sarah, and crying tears of 
hope, tears of joy for this moment, as 
Sarah beamed at them all.  When the
song ended, Santa sat on the side of the 
bed again and held Sarah's frail, small 
hands in his own.

"Now, Sarah, "he said authoritatively, 
"you have a job to do, and that is to 
concentrate on getting well.

I want you to have fun playing with your 
friends this summer, and I expect to see 
you at my house at Mayfair Mall this time 
next year!" He knew it was risky 
proclaiming that, to this little girl who had
terminal cancer, but he "had" to.  He had 
to give her the greatest gift he could -- 
better than dolls or games or toys -- the 
gift of HOPE.

"Yes, Santa!  "Sarah exclaimed, her eyes 
bright.

He leaned down and kissed her on the 
forehead and left the room. Out in the 
hall, the minute Santa's eyes met Rick's, 
a look passed between them and they 
wept unashamed.  Sarah's mother
and grandmother slipped out of the room 
quickly and rushed to Santa's side to 
thank him.

"My only child is the same age as Sarah," 
he explained quietly. "This is the least I 
could do." They nodded with 
understanding and hugged him.

One year later, Santa was again back on 
the set in Milwaukee for his six-week, 
seasonal job which he so loves to do. 
Several weeks went by and then one day 
a child came up to sit on his lap. 
"Hi, Santa! Remember me?!"

Of course, I do," Santa proclaimed (as he 
always does), smiling down at her. After 
all, the secret to being a "good" Santa is 
to always make each child feel as if they 
are the "only" child in the world at that 
moment.

"You came to see me in the hospital last 
year!" 
Santa's jaw dropped.

Tears immediately sprang in his eyes, 
and he grabbed this little miracle and 
held her to his chest.

"Sarah!" he exclaimed.  He scarcely 
recognized her,for her hair was long and 
silky and her cheeks were rosy -- much 
different from the little girl he had visited 
just a year before.  He looked over and 
saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in 
the sidelines smiling and waving and 
wiping their eyes.

That was the best Christmas ever for 
Santa Claus. He had witnessed --and 
been blessed to be instrumental in 
bringing about -- this miracle of hope.

This precious little child was healed. 
cancer-free. Alive and well. He silently 
looked up to Heaven and humbly 
whispered, "Thank you, Father.  'Tis a 
very, Merry Christmas!

If you believe in miracles, will you 

pass this on... I did!

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