Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I watch, what has become my favorite seasonal movie, "A Christmas Story".   The central character is Ralph, whose Christmas desire from Santa is a special BB gun.  He dreams of sitting with Santa at the local mall and describing the deepest desire of his heart.  What happens if you get to the Mall, wait in line for over an hour, then right before you go to sit with the Jolly Guy, you find out Santa doesn't speak your language?  What if Santa can't hear you?  There is a community of children and adults that are hard of hearing or deaf, but still get a chance to talk with Santa using ASL or American Sign Language.

 At this time of the year, I get the privilege of working with volunteers from the community and staff from the Texas School for the Deaf in taking over 250 photos and providing prints of them with Santa at Barton Creek Square Mall.   I admit, I know almost no ASL, only "Thank you".  But I think Santa forgives me...and hugs are universal.  

This event is made possible by the generous donations of love, time, talents, and money.  If you can help, please do so.

If I want to tell Santa what to bring me for Christmas, I can write a letter addressed to somewhere in the North Pole. But getting up close to Santa himself, and telling him how I've been such a good boy this year, and I want a Nikon D5 with a 600mm F4 lens, and blah, blah, blah...you get the picture.  You tell him your list of things you really, really, want.  Not that you really, really, need more stuff.  That's just nonsense.  It brings me great joy to see lives filled with true love.  Love one another deeply. 

Merry Christmas to all of you,

Michael