This is a
real Christmas miracle story, happened in December 1997 in Wisconsin ,
USA .
A little girl named Sarah had leukemia and was not expected to live to see
Christmas. Her brother and grandmother went to the mall to ask Mark Leonard who
was a professional Santa Claus to visit the hospital to give Sarah the gift of
hope through encouragement and prayer. A year later Sarah surprised Santa by
showing up at the mall where he worked. Here goes the story. A little boy
and his grandmother came to see Santa at The Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin . The child climbed up on Santa’s
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 encouraged 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 anyway, Santa, any possible way that you could come see Sarah?
That’s all she’s asked for, 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 Rick, 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.
“Common….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.
And
another woman who he discovered later was Sarah’s aunt, sat in a chair near the
bed with a 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.
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. But 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, and 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. And 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
— not dolls or games or toys — but 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 Mark 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!”
Source: http://academictips.org/blogs/christmas-miracle-real-story/
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