Santa's Elf

Today is probably one of my most favorite days of the year! This year marks the fifth year that I have had the pleasure of being an "elf" for the Santa's Helpers program. The Santa's Helpers program is a joint collaboration between the Salina Regional Health Center and Heartland. Each year various departments at the hospital sign up to adopt several of our families and then they provide the children with Christmas gifts and their parents with a few gifts and household supplies.

This year I was fortunate enough to have two of my families be "adopted". So this morning I set out to pick up the wrapped gifts at the hospital and deliver them to my families. This was the first year that I had both of the families ask to have the gifts delivered while the kids were at school so that they would be able to set them out Christmas eve and truly have them delivered by Santa.

I have to admit when this was first arranged I was a bit bummed because to me one of the best parts of delivering the gifts has always been the opportunity to see each of the children's faces as you bring brightly wrapped gifts to their home that have their name on them. But I was not to be disappointed this morning. At my first stop the parent was so overwhelmed by the gifts I brought to the door, and those that she could see in the car behind me, that she came out to help unload without her shoes on. (She realized pretty quickly - 5 inches of snow will do that to bare feet).

My second stop of the morning was by far the best. I knocked on the grandparents door with a sack of gifts in one hand and about 3 more balanced in my arms. As soon as grandma opened the door she teared up. The best part was that I had probably about 20 more gifts in the car! By the time that we got it all unloaded both she and grandpa were crying. This family I have a bit of a soft spot for because they have truly been through so much in the three years that I have worked with them. This is a single dad with three kids and he is honestly doing everything he can to make a home for his kids. He has scraped and saved to be able to decorate each of the kids rooms for them over the last year while he has gone without a bed of his own to sleep on. Let's just say an angel of a doctor made sure that is not the case anymore!

I have to think that perhaps another big reason for my fondness of this family is that I see in this dad the same determination, love, and faith that I have seen in another special man in my life, My dad. Many years ago he too was a single dad giving his all to provide for and to make a better future for his daughter. To me it's very fitting that this day, where I had the pleasure of bringing Christmas to two families, and to a single dad and his children, is also my dad's birthday.
So Happy Birthday! to my dad, who taught me love, compassion for others, and most of all the meaning of giving.

Merry Christmas to you all!