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!