This week, “From the Sunny Side” is a “Best of” column from December of 2016. I hope you enjoy and may this holiday season be a safe and wonderful one for you and your family.
I have very vivid memories of my kindergarten Christmas party at Happytime Kindergarten in Perry. Of course, Santa was there to visit with all of us. Before the party, my sister had told me that Santa was not real, so I was eager to go straight to the source and ask him myself. When I had my chance to speak to the big guy, I told him what my sister had said and I told him that I knew he was real and he could come see me for Christmas and he could just pass over my sister. Santa chuckled at this and assured me that he was real and that he could overlook my sister's lack of faith. As I was talking to Santa that evening, I couldn't help but think that there was something strangely familiar about his voice.
Soon after that, I went to church and saw Mr. Henry Fulmer. Mr. Fulmer worked at the bank and was a very gregarious man with an easy laugh. If there was ever anyone who exemplified the “Christmas Spirit” every day of the year, it was Mr. Fulmer. He was also one of the “greeters” at our church. Each Sunday, he would be near the entrance of the church and warmly greet anyone and everyone who happened to walk by. I don't know if that was an official title, or if perhaps it was just something that Mr. Fulmer simply enjoyed doing. When I heard Mr. Fulmer, I recognized his voice as that of Santa from my kindergarten Christmas party. Could Mr. Fulmer really be Santa in disguise? I always wondered about that. Mr. Fulmer certainly had the “look.” He wasn't very tall, was heavy set, and had a very boisterous voice. You could even say that Mr. Fulmer was “jolly.” So it became a bit of an “inside secret” for me. Santa was real, and he worked at the bank. Years later, even into adulthood, whenever I would speak to, hear, or think of Henry Fulmer, I would think of Santa.
Later, when I got a little older and reached “the age,” I asked my mom the big question many young people ask. “Is Santa real?” My mother's response was a stroke of pure genius, I thought. She told me, “Santa is part of the spirit of Christmas. As long as you believe in him, he is real. But if you ever stop believing in him, then he won't be real anymore.” Since that time, I have chosen to believe.
So, even to this day, if you ask me, “Is Santa real?” I will tell you without hesitation, “Yes he is very real, and he used to work at the bank.”