Santa Matt's ramblings

Mom to Mom Sales! This morning my two daughters went to the Mom to Mom sale at our church. (Even though only one of them is a mom, they like to do things together. Sisters, go figure.) Anyway, Angela took 20 boxes of children clothes, most of it from preemie through 2T. She also had assorted baby furniture, cribs, high chairs that sort of thing, all of the stuff one gathers when one has twins. She also brought two little picnic tables her husband Ralph had made. Angela priced every article of clothing she had a 25 cents. She gave boxes of stuff to Heartbeat (who collects infant needs for mothers who need help and choose life over abortion). All of the big stuff was in a consignment area. The doors opened at 8:00AM and people were lined up to get the bargains. By 10:00AM all of Angela's furniture was sold. At one point a mom and her little girl were shopping and the little girl wanted some Elmo shoes sized for a preemie. Her mom told her, "They won't fit you." To which...

I got up at 6:30 am and if you know me, that is unheard of on the weekend. But I got up and went down to the First Presbyterian Church, met my daughter so we could help serve breakfast. I poured milk and juice into cups and lined them up on the serving line so the guests could pick one up as they went by. Besides hot food, cereal and an assortment of baked goods were also served. So when the guests arrived and passed through the line sometimes I would help them carry their breakfast to their table. I don't know what I expected as far as who would be there. I met obvious street people, those who have been homeless for an extended period of time. And I met the poor, people that had a place to stay some nicer clothes that maybe just needed a little help with their groceries. I met a group of what were obviously construction workers. They still wore parts of their work clothes, out of work and few prospects. And I met the lonely. Once the guests had gone through the line, the workers w...

Many years ago a friend of mine told me that at Christmas time he dressed up as Santa for his family. He even brought his suit to work and after work one evening put it on so I and others in the office could see how he looked. I still have a Polaroid picture of him tucked away. I thought it was pretty cool and that maybe some day I might like to try it. My chance came a few years later. At the children's Mass at our church, Santa would always make an appearance at the end of the service. The youth minister was always Santa but one year he told the organizer that he no longer wanted to be Santa as he was afraid that now that his sons were older they might recognize him and not believe in Santa. The organizer, Susie, could not find anyone else to be Santa. Everyone was too shy. She came to me and asked me if I would do it. I said "Sure". At the time I worked for an Alarm Company and company policy forbid having a beard but the church's costume came with a pretty nice be...