Santa story

I received this from a friend by e-mail, I thought it was so sweet, I wanted to share it with all of you.:)

Santa story

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma.
I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my
bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb:
"There is no Santa Claus," she jeered.
"Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been.
I fled to her that day because I knew she would be
straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth,
and I knew that the truth always went down a whole
lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous"
cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because
Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm.
Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me.
"No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it.
That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad,
plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked.

I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store
in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we
walked through it's doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.
That was a bundle in those days.

"Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who
needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of
Kerby's.

I was only nine years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother,
but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.
The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling
to finish their Christmas shopping.
For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that
ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors,
the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just
about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.
He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right
behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-4 class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went
out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note,
telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that
Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he just had no coat.
I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement.
I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it.
It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked
kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at
me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I
didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and
wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper.
A little tag fell out of the coat, but Grandma said it was okay and
just tucked it in her Bible. We finished wrapping the coat and
tied the package with pretty ribbon, then wrote,
"To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.

Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.
Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that
I was
now and forever, officially one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house,
and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes
by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge.
"All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present
down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety
of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the
front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent
shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.
That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus
were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous.
Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

Grandma has long since passed on, but I still have the Bible,
with the coat tag tucked inside.

.....It says, $19.95