The best Santa knows how to give memorable gifts that hit the most joyous emotions and memories. This may be my best Santa moment ever. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to top it.
My wife told me time and time again about a special book her grandmother would read to her all the time. They would sit together in her grandmother's gliding chair. The book was early reader book with multiple stories. She described the one story she loved the most, about a man named Mark who went into a park in the dark. She would lament every time that the book was never recovered after her grandmother's passing and that she could never find a copy of it, or couldn't remember the title of the book to be able to search for it.
One year for Christmas I started digging on the web to find the mystery book. After a little digging and searching under the "Mark in the park in the dark" phrases, I found the book. I found 2 on ebay that were both used with some minor wear conditions. I bought both and would pick the best of the two to wrap for Christmas (We ended up keeping both).
It was getting closer to Christmas and I had to wait for the right opportunity to be at home alone to wrap and get a card ready. Finally my chance arrived. I went to the store to buy some wrapping paper I thought my wife's grandmother would probably have used. I wrapped up the book nice and neat. I even put some fancy ribbon work on it.
I then went and searched for my wife's special silver sleigh bell that "Santa" had replaced for her when she was younger. This was important because the box it is kept in still has the "From: Santa" label. This is hand written by no one my wife knows. Her parents would give their children gifts from Santa and it was always from the same "Santa." To this day her parents will not share who had written their notes from Santa. I traced the label lettering to the card envelop of a card I thought her grandmother would probably get her.
The final touches were the hardest. I had to find a hand written note from her grandmother. I searched through all of her keepsake boxes and finally I found one. I used my wife's light box to trace the letters from her grandmother's note to the card. It said, "I know you loved reading this book with me. Thought you might like to have it back. Love, Grandma."
After I got everything prepared I had to dispose of the evidence. I got rid of the rest of the wrapping paper. I put everything back away that I used. Then, I had to hide the present until we got to her parent's house for Christmas.
The day finally arrived. We got to her parent's house and after we got all of our stuff inside and the gifts over by the pile that was already waiting for everyone, I snuck the package somewhere in the pile that no one would look. Christmas morning came and everything was passed out to everyone. Knowing my wife, she waited to open the present last, because it was the prettiest one.
When she opened and read the card her face was shocked with emotions. She looked around at everyone and realized that no one knew what she had just read. She opened the package and her mouth dropped to the floor when she saw the book. Everyone was wondering what was going on because the memory was hers and everyone else had forgotten about that book. She showed the book to everyone and explained what it was and started asking who gave it to her. Immediately, her parents said it came from Santa. I never told any of them prior to Christmas, but they played along regardless.
I stunned my wife with emotions by allowing her to relive one of the best memories she could possess with her grandmother. After a while she finally came to me and asked if I was the one who gave her the present. Even I was filled and wrapped up in her emotions that it was too hard for me to keep the secret going any longer. I spilled my guts, but the surprise was priceless.
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