I didn’t know what to expect of my audience with Santa. It had been years since I have sat with him. So Bill Kinnebrew turned out to be everything I expected, physically and emotionally.

Bill has an infectious hopeful spirit. Jolly does not describe him accurately. He has no bowls full of jelly in sight, though there are candy canes in his front pockets. There are no elves, sleigh or reindeer in the immediate vicinity. He probably has a Santa hat, but does not usually wear it. He says, off-handedly that he may have lost his coat, but is wearing a red vest. I would bet he knows where that coat is. One does not loose something Ms. Claus (Laurie) has made for you. But none of that matters. He is Santa! I believe…..and am tempted to leave my Christmas list on his desk when I depart…..just in case.

I was looking for a Holiday story idea for this blog and kept coming back to the idea of talking with Santa. It was going to be my Christmas list to the Big Guy. But none of the agencies I contacted could understand what I was proposing. Some didn’t even respond to my on-line application to “Hire a Santa”. I happened to stumble upon Santa’s Facebook page, and his head Elf Rachel called back to say she thought he would be thrilled to talk with me. I guess it makes sense that Santa has a FB page. I should have thought of that earlier. All the other Santas-for-hire are really just helpers.

I asked how he became Santa. People would ask to take photos with him through out the years. So His wife Laurie and her friend Cindy said they wanted to make him a Santa suit to see how he liked it. He started with daycare centers and scouts and has not looked back.

He and I met in his office early one morning a few days before this pandemic Christmas day. Bill is a home builder and remodeler during the normal times. One of his clients suggests that it must be a tough year for Santa, but he says to my surprise,  “I’m probably gonna do more Santa visits than I have ever done in any year. People are so starved for happiness”

I would have thought this year would have been a down year for Santa enthusiasm. But fortunately for Children’s Harbor, (where Bill directs all of the funds that people pay for his visits) business is good and the spread of joy is in great need this year.

We talk about whether a man like himself, with such an obvious bright outlook on life, had experienced troubled times or hopelessness. Everyone encounters strife in life…..right?! And though he mentions almost losing his home building business during the 2008 recession and got emotional talking about his mother dying last year, I would guess there is more struggle there somewhere. But I believe that his hopeful spirit keeps the glass more than half full most of the time.

I had to ask if there have been any encounters that stand out so far during this years season, and he says;

“We did a Camp Smile a Mile visit in an outside area at Regions Park. There was a young African American kid about 12 years old who had the most perfect afro, like the one all my friends in the seventies wanted, and had a candy cane hanging in it. So I leaned over to mention something about his hair cause I thought he looked so cool, but instead I just asked him what he wanted for Christmas, and he told me……….(long pause)………………‘I just want to be here for Christmas next year’. ”

I feel that Bill probably found a good way to comfort the young man. Needless to say, I did not leave my List on Santa’s desk. I may have to rethink it.