Santa Claus by Jake's Grandpa Shillig

Yes, there is a Santa Claus and I believe in him. We went to a stage production put on by a group of women here in town. They tap dance and most are over 60. The oldest is 83. The program was an hour and a half long and the auditorium was sold out. It was a Christmas theme and the music brought back many memories from my early childhood. I knew there was a Santa because he always ate the cookies and drank the milk that I left out. I think I was 43 when I finally quite putting out the milk and cookies. I had a job at the local drugstore delivering call in orders and running the fountain. I lived in Louisville, Ky., the home of distilleries of all kinds. I knew that pure alcohol was 200 proof and any thing of lesser proof was diluted. One snowy night I had to deliver a bottle of 200 proof alcohol to a tavern about a mile away. I asked the druggist why would the owner of the tavern order such, since he had a tavern full of booze. He said he would dilute it and make what they called bathtub gin. With snow about 3 foot deep I finally made it to Dahls Inn. The daughter of the owner asked if I would like a hamburger to warm me up after my ride. That hamburger was the best I ever had and I always get a little choked up when I think about it. Yes, there is a Santa Claus. When I was teaching school and trying to feed 10 of my own people and 3 Mexican kids the church wanted us to keep on $299 a month, the owner of a market in the town where I taught came up to me one night at a school meeting and said he realized I didn't make much and if I would like I could run up a bill at his market and pay on it when ever I could. I declined and thanked him. His name was Karl Kelloff. Yes, there is a Santa Claus. On our way to the ranch we stopped in Albuquerque and chowed down at Mc Donalds and spent my last 20 dollar bill and got a dime in change. I didn't know what broke was until I got the ranch, The next day a truck pulled in the drive way and a man said I understand you have a horse trailer for sale. Well, the horse was in the corral so why did I need a horse trailer? He bought the horse trailer. We had just arrived. How did he know I even had a horse trailer? Yes, there is a Santa Claus. Two days later another man drove in to the ranch and said he would cut, bale, weigh and pay $20 a ton for the race horse hay I had 20 acres of. I had no trouble saying yes, since I had no equipment to cut or bale hay and hay was selling for $15 a ton already baled. He was Bishop Shawcroft, Bishop of the La Jara Ward, about 10 miles south of us. Yes, there is a Santa Claus. I had a Mother and a Father that made every Christmas special, although we had very little during the depression years. There is a Santa Claus, I believe in him, make sure you do too. 83 years of Santa, Love you all, Dad

added in another email he sent me:

Even reading it again brings back a lot of memories and a little choking and eye dampening. I liked to ice skate when a kid, but never had any skates that I didn't rent at the rink. One Christmas I got two big presents all wrapped up. In each package was a pair of ice skates, one hockey and the other racing skates. they had each been wrapped  up in long underwear then wrapped in Xmas  paper. The skates were used, but I never gave that a thought. Later on when I was in my twentys, I dyed one pair red and the other green. I had those until I got the ranch in Colorado, where I really needed them. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Love, Gramps