Freezing atop a fire truck, with the one and only, Santa Claus. Some believe some do not. With the magic of the season how could one not believe? My favorite time of the year. The time I do believe.

A special Santa helper comes to every firehouse in the county for at least a day. At my company, we ride the fire trucks with our Santa. Members dress up or throw their gear on and out we go. Our “Santa Runs” bring smiles to the faces of the young and even the old. Dressing up every Christmas giving children candy canes and warm Christmas hugs melts my heart. No one quite understands what these Santa Runs mean to me. Many just see them as the station flaunting, showing off. But when you see the joy we bring to the little boys and girls you see the tradition, what the children wait for every Christmas. To give the fire truck riding Santa Claus a ginormous Christmas hug.

For a while, I hated Christmas. For six straight years I wanted nothing to do with the season. It had to many family memories. Memories of my late grandparents. It made me sick to my stomach to be celebrating their favorite time of year without them. Then about two years ago that all changed. After a few years of not participating in the Santa runs, I started back up again. The day became brighter. The smiles on the children’s face more brilliant. Their pearly white teeth showing through gorgeous smiles you could see from a mile away. The grown ups smiles equally as dazzling. Some grandparents standing at their doors waving just like my own grandparents did. That was my reminder that this is what I was meant to be doing. I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere else on that morning.

Slowly love started to flood back into my heart. The smile on my face becoming as big as the ones on the children’s faces. The Grinch sized heart that was beating in my chest slowly started to grow back to its normal size. Watching the children hug Santa, Mrs. Claus, Frosty, Mrs. Frosty, and Rudolph. Noticing them smiling even brighter. That’s when it hit me finally. This is what Christmas is about. Giving the pure joy of the season. Showing the children about giving and clearly not receiving anything in return but the smiles on their faces. I could not continue to be a Grinch any longer. That was ruining Christmas for the children, and even myself.

This year, for a third year in a row I will be donning gear or a costume and mounting a fire truck. Even if just in my fire fighting gear I will bring smiles and joy to the little ones because they know that the fire fighters help Santa around with the fire truck. The fire fighters make it all happen. Seeing the joy and smiles, the twinkles in the children’s eyes makes the time spent doing all this worth it. I plan to do these runs until the day I can no longer climb upon a truck, just for the children.