16. DRESS UP AS SANTA CLAUSE

Tis the most wonderful time of the year!

Last year I scored when I was asked to dress as Santa Clause for work for Christmas. Last year, after the holiday season had passed, I was delighted to hear that there was an overwhelming positive response to the way I “did” Santa. I was delighted to have been asked if I could be Santa once again this year. Though I had the opportunity to do it once, I still jumped at the chance. Based on the crowd’s response, it seemed as if I did a pretty good job.

This year instead of centering this post on the guests at our hotel, which again was a great experience, I instead am going to revolve it around Santa Clause surprising my niece Ashanti. Like most children, my niece loves the holiday season. Not necessarily because of all the gifts, but because it’s one of those times when the entire family comes together to spend time with each other. She loves seeing everyone.

This year my family and I decided to open gifts on Christmas evening. I kind of planned everything out so I brought my Santa suit home from work. While the action was going on outside, I snuck off to the side into a bedroom to get changed. I asked my cousin, Ashanti’s mom, to bring me one of her gifts so I can put it in my Santa sack. Because I got dressed up the day before, putting the suit back on correctly was literally done in a second. I went thru the back and snuck around to the front as my cousin got my entrance song ready to go.

With everyone together and Ashanti not knowing, “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” played. She looked outside at the figure that was coming towards the house. I weaved my way through the driveway and started dancing. Our family was cheering along. It was rather hard trying to dance and entertain while trying to keep everything together, i.e. the hat, the beard, and making sure the pants don’t fall.

The moment went by like a blur. After everything was done and I transformed back into Brandon, I went back into the house. Ashanti was ecstatic telling me I just missed out on seeing Santa. Seeing her smiling ear to ear made this Christmas one of the best ever. This moment was the personification of the holidays. I can only hope I’ll be able to not just surprise her, but take Santa Clause island wide.