4. Being Santa Can Be Soul-Crushing
I was a mall Santa once and will never do it again. Some of the things still haunt me. One little girl was the sweetest most well-spoken girl and asked that her parents would love each other again so they could get back together and they could be a family again. The pain in her voice still hurts my heart almost a decade later. Another boy wanted his dad to come back from Iraq.
Another little boy wanted his dad back and told me he passed in Afghanistan. One asked for his parents to get jobs, because they both lost them. A few others just ran to me and gave me the biggest and most loving hugs and though those aren’t really sad they really struck a nerve with me, just such genuine love from complete strangers. I am not an emotional person normally, but even typing this brought me to tears.
Kids should not be worrying about some of these things. I would never do it again, you expect toys and gadgets but things like these I never expected and they will be things that break my heart for the rest of my life.