Christmas 1983 (4 years old): My memories of this is a bit cloudy, obviously as look at how old I was! But this is how I remember it, but it may not be exactly as it happened, but it does stand out...
My Grandmother passed away months earlier, and nonetheless my Grandfather still had everyone over for Christmas in his old house on Ritchie Street in Kimberley. At the time, I was the youngest cousin, and the only boy, so I was kind of doing my own thing as my older cousins Colleen and Candace, were doing girl stuff that I wasn't privy to. Grandpa abruptly decided to excuse himself from the party so he could go outside and "shovel", which seemed legit enough as it was Kimberley and it was most likely snowing. Suddenly out of the carport came "Santa Claus".... my cousins acted like they just saw The Beatles coming off the plane. So were all the grown ups(though in hindsight it was just probably to humour us kiddies, so it was probably in a wink wink nudge nudge way), and here I was, in my own way, calling bullshit. I knew immediately that it was Grandpa in disguise, why didn't my cousins? Or the grownups for that matter?? I want to say I held it close to the chest, patiently bided my time then confronted him over it in private, but knowing me and how bigmouthed I was(I know...was??) I probably babbled that I knew who he was as soon as I saw him. When it came time to sit on "Santa's" knee and receive my goodie bag (in an old school Overwaitea paper bag, no less!), I whispered to him that his secret was safe and I wouldn't tell anyone, even though I probably already did. He studied my face and smiled and patted my head. I left, feeling like I was "let in on it" and happily went on my merry way. My Mom asked jokingly if I was being a troublemaker(me? Never!) and I said no, me and Santa had a very nice chat. And I watched as my aunts, uncles, even my Mom seemed completely oblivious that this was freaking Grandpa in disguise!!! Grandpa should've been a secret agent I think.
Sure enough, as soon as Santa left, Grandpa conveniently came back and was disappointed that he just missed him.....just like Clark Kent. Though Santa made sure to leave him a nice new pair of gloves, so not all was lost:)
Maybe I will write another memory if one strikes me, but I hope if you read this one, you get a good chuckle, or maybe relate to it in some way. Till then, have a very Merry Christmas!
