Tragically, 2020 hasn’t exactly been the year that everybody hoped for, and we’re truly living in unprecedented times.
The coronavirus pandemic has been going on for almost the entire year, and with Christmas and New Year’s Eve around the corner, these celebrations won’t be the same as other years.
Standing in huge lines and waiting for hours to get a moment with Santa Claus at the mall, those things are unthinkable in the current circumstances. Luckily, there are a lot of organizations who let children virtually meet with Santa Claus, or see them while separated by some plexiglass.
Of course, these COVID-friendly measures make things a whole lot less cozy and warm, but they’re unfortunately necessary for the year 2020.
Luckily, Santa and all of his workers and elves are still working, even in a crazy year like this one. It’s important to keep our spirits up, create a little bit of that holiday magic, and dream of better times ahead.
Christmas memories are absolutely beautiful, and one mom from Fort Worth, Texas, will always remember her son’s encounter with Santa Claus two years ago.
Of course, there was no such thing as social distancing or wearing masks back then, which made a regular meeting with Santa a lot easier. And even though the pictures are from two years ago, they’ve recently resurfaced and gone viral on the internet, spreading a little bit of Christmas joy around the world.
Matthew Foster was extremely excited to meet Santa Claus, but he was also nervous.
The six-year-old boy, who is still a firm believer, is autistic and also blind which made things quite challenging.
Crowds are also nerve-wracking for the little Matthew, but he desperately wanted to see Santa Claus with his own eyes. His mom Misty was a bit worried of course, but she doctored out a plan to make this special festive day go smoothly.
Santa decided to set up his workshop at a Cabela’s store, and Misty made sure to get there very early to avoid large crowds.
The idea worked – there wasn’t even a line, and Matthew could meet Santa right away.
Mom immediately whispered to the friendly and joyful man, that Matthew was blind and autistic – but Santa already knows everything about all the children in the world, of course.
“I whispered to Santa “he is blind and autistic and is very interested in Santa”. He said “say no more” and immediately got down on the floor to greet my little man,” Misty posted on her Facebook profile.
Matthew doesn’t usually talk with or interact with people he doesn’t like, know, or trust. In other words, he needs to be very comfortable with someone before the little boy talks. Of course, he already knew Santa, so their meeting went flawlessly.
“Santa had his trust right away,” she said. “I keep saying that he met the real Santa. That was the real Santa for Matthew.”
Santa headed towards the boy, took a very slow approach, and then knelt down to let the boy get comfortable.
Since he was blind, the little boy was allowed to touch Santa’s entire outfit, just to make sure that this was the real Santa out here.
“He knew exactly what to do,” mom recalls. “He was just so good at getting through to Matthew and letting Matthew have that learning experience.”
It’s also a tradition to take a picture with Santa, but mom knew this would be a very difficult moment.
Matthew hates having pictures taken of him.
Luckily, this time, the little boy did not mind at all. He felt so comfortable with Santa Claus, and mom was even stunned that her six-year-old immediately said ‘yes’.
“I was just waiting for the meltdown at that point and as soon as he said yes, my jaw just dropped,” she said. “His sister gave the Grinch face, but this time around Matthew was actually looking at the camera and head up and everything. I need Santa in my life for family pictures.”
“You only get to see Santa once a year, so it’s nice to be able to actually enjoy that moment and make it an experience like he had,” she said to CNN/KTVT.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
