No child ever asks what Santa would like for Christmas.
I was pondering that point while shuffling in a long line waiting to see St. Nick. A little girl sprang onto his lap.
“I want a Barbie doll,” she announced.
“I want a Barbie!” her sister said.
“You want a Barbie, too,” the bearded man nodded.
“And some doll clothes,” the little girl poked his red coat.
“I want some doll clothes, too,” her sister said.
“Oh, boy,” sighed the Jolly Old Elf. “We definitely have an echo in here.”
This one, just needs a hug. He is more than a storefront Santa. The twinkle in his eye is love, not sales. His workshop is filled with the glitter of little kids’ dreams. But, he’s not making toys. Santa and his elves are making electric wheelchairs. The first, he built for a baby in Vietnam. She had lost both of her legs to a land mine. Santa wore a different uniform then. He was Marine major Ed Butcher. There have been 11-hundred wheelchairs since.
