A Visit with Santa

I couldn't decide if this post was worth writing, but after speaking with friends at work, I thought that I needed to write it down to remember it.

Last weekend, Amelia and I hosted a tea party for the little girls at church at our house.  They had such a fun time decorating gingerbread houses and eating brunch.  After Amelia's nap, we told her that we would go visit Santa (she had been asking to visit Santa, even though we saw him on our train ride to the North Pole).  Amelia was thrilled as we headed to Bass Pro Shop where we saw him last year.  When we arrived at Bass Pro, I asked for a time ticket to see Santa (this was the protocol last year).  The attendant at the door said they didn't have time tickets this year, and we would have to stand in line.  The line stretched almost to the very back of the huge store.  I stood in line while Amelia and David walked around the store looking for the fish and deer.  After 30 minutes of waiting, I had barely moved.  When David and Amelia returned to me, I told Amelia that we were going to have to abort our mission and try again another day.  We had not eaten dinner yet, and Santa would be getting hungry, too.  She said she was okay with it, but she wanted to ride the carousel like last year.  As we walked to the front of the store to the carousel, I noticed that it wasn't moving and there wasn't  a line, so I asked about the carousel.  We were told that it wasn't working.  Amelia grabbed my leg and whispered something.  I bent down and asked her what she said.  With a quivering lower lip, she whispered, "We'll try again another time".  A huge tear slid down her cheek as she tried not to cry.  I picked her up and told her that it was okay to cry when she was disappointed or sad.  She said that she was very sad, and she really wanted to see Santa.  I told her that we would look up where he would be tomorrow, because we were definitely NOT going to head back to Bass Pro.  I was willing to pay the money for pictures with Santa from somewhere else.  Amelia cried a little on the way home, but our sweet neighbors and friends invited us to dinner which distracted her for the evening.  

The next morning, Amelia ran to me with her special Christmas dress she wanted to wear when she went to see Santa.  I quickly put it in the wash before we left the house knowing it would be ready before we saw Santa after church.  While getting dressed, David became worried after speaking with his mom (who was in the hospital), and we decided to visit her instead.  The special Christmas dress was not completely dry, so I put it on a hanger and hung it in the car to dry on the way.  The entire time, I was praying that we would make it to see Santa somewhere that day.  While trying to provide some encouragement to RuRu during our visit, she asked if we could pick up a few things from her apartment at the retirement home while she rested.  We decided to go have some lunch, pick up RuRu's things, and head to see Santa somewhere before returning to the hospital.  While traveling to RuRu's apartment, I began looking up locations in town where Santa might be visiting.  We had a plan when we went into the retirement home.  A sweet gentleman was in the sitting area outside her apartment when we got there.  We began talking to him about RuRu, and he asked us if we were going to see Santa while we were there.  WHAT!  SANTA WAS AT THE RETIREMENT HOME???!!!  That's right!  God sent Santa to see Amelia.  I'm sure of it!  We asked how long he would be there and was told that he was there until 2:00.  What time was it?  That's right - 1:58!  David grabbed Amelia and took off toward the lobby while I ran to the car to get my camera.  I thanked God the entire way that I ran to my car and back!  Amelia was VERY shy around him, but I was able to get a couple of good pictures.  On the way back out to the car, she announced, "I liked the Santa at the North Pole better."  It didn't even phase her that they were completely different.  She just liked the one at the North Pole better than the one she saw.