A Christmas Lesson I Will Never Forget

A strange thing happened this morning! I was sitting at a Tim Horton's having a coffee while deep in thought when I could feel someone staring intently at me! I looked up and at the next table was a little girl who was smiling at me. I smiled back! She then said "hi Santa"! Looking at her I laughed and didn't know what to say. Her mother laughed and said "honey he doesn't look like Santa". The little girl then said "he is Santa. I can tell by the twinkle in his eye". Her mother and I smiled and after a long pause I said "well I guess Santa can be whoever we want him to be and there is a little bit of Santa in all of us". This brought a beautiful smile to this little girl's face. I then asked "what would you like for Christmas?" She paused and said "for my daddy to feel better". Not wanting to pry into this family's personal business I remained silent. Shortly after, the little girl's mother said "my husband has terminal cancer". I could feel my tears welling and said "I'm very sorry". The little girl looked me square in the eyes and said "it's ok Santa." Then looking at her mother with eternal loving in her eyes she said "we will be ok". Moved beyond words I could only provide a sad smile. The little girl saw this and said "can I give you a hug?" As I looked over to her mother to see if this would be ok, the little girl walked towards me. Her mother nodded her consent and the little girl and I hugged. She clasped her arms around my neck and whispered "don't be sad". After a long moment where we were still hugging she said "I need this hug too"! With that she sat back down at her table while I sat in silence trying to process what had just been one of the most meaningful and beautiful moments in my entire life.