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By Jim Swettenham

(c) December 19, 2009

Have you ever dreamed of being something and doubted that it would ever come true?

Well, since I was a small boy I have always been a believer in Santa Claus and, if the truth be known, I still am to this day.

Imagine the excitement when, several years later, I was asked to be a Shopping Mall Santa…by this time I was married with small children of my own.

In my mind, Santa Claus doesn’t wear cheap plastic leggings over everyday shoes…he has real Santa boots with nice full round toes and his pant legs cover the tops of his boots…the pant legs don’t get stuffed into cheap black plastic leggings that are half torn or stapled or wrapped with black electrical tape to stop the tear from getting any bigger. So even before I knew I was going to be a Shopping Mall Santa I had a heavy pair of black pull-on work boots.

When I met with mall administrative officials to confirm that I would indeed by their Santa, I informed them that under no circumstances would I be wearing their old cheap plastric leggings, but that Santa would have his own, proper Santa boots. They were a bit uncomfortable with Santa’s “belligerence” but Santa was due to arrive at the mall the very next day, so they had no choice.

The next day (a Thursday), Santa showed up at the mall incognito and got dressed in the washroom of a clothing outlet in the mall…and with jingle bells ringing and boisterous cries of “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas”, shoppers out in the mall knew that Santa was in the building…he was heard long before he was seen and then he made his grand appearance and took his place in a big sleigh surrounded by a variety of Christmas decorations and displays as a background befitting photographs to be taken with the jolly old elf.

A large number of people had gathered at Santa’s sleigh in anticipation of his arrival…one of those people turned out to be a young girl named Mary…she was a young lady who had some limited, but not severe special needs. So confidently strode up to Santa’s sleigh when it was her turn and she didn’t hesitate to climb into the sleigh and take her rightful place on Santa’s knee and share her excitement about coming to visit and posed for a photo and then took her special pre-Christmas gift from Santa and left to share her excitement with her caregivers.