Jim Uhlik 19691 Center St. Castro Valley, Ca.94546 A Veterans Christmas Visitor Written by Jim Uhlik How does one really start a story that’s believable and unbelievable at the same time because it really did happen to me, and yet there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night, I smile and go, “that really did happen.” In my world, when a veteran starts a story it usually starts out as “this is no joke,” or “no BS.” Most people would call it that because you really don’t know if it’s real or not, or just a lot of bull. Who am I? Well, I am a Navy veteran and well, let’s just say I started out as an unbeliever and go from there. Not too long ago, maybe a couple of years or so, even though it seems longer now, but just about a week before Christmas, some of us misplaced vets (you call us homeless) were just kind of sitting around our encampment trying to think of other times and a places when it really was a Merry Christmas. I’ll try to leave some the names of my fellow vets out, and associate them with or how we associate with each other, like nicknames or just last names. One of my friends, Dale, who had a dog named PD, loved that dog to death and would do anything for him. Then there was Little Mikey, who came from a farm in the Midwest and wasn’t that little. See what I mean about nicknames? And Doc, an African American. They are what we called medics in the service who came from Washington State, and a number of others of our group as we sat around the fire that evening. Some of us were asking each other what would you like for Christmas? There is always a wise ass in the group that said, “I want $1 million.” One guy wanted a date with the hot model, or a super car. Then, we had one guy that always said “peace on earth, no more wars.” Then it got quiet. I then piped up and said, “just being happy and content that I still have the holes God gave me and no others” (from the conflicts that we served in). Everyone would usually laugh and say, “Amen to that brother”. One evening, the about a week before Christmas, a new member walked into our little community that we lovingly called Camp Hope. This was our home, but unfortunately, there are way too many more out there just like ours. [Too many more what???] Anyway, this little guy walks into the camp. He had a white beard and long hair and, believe it or not, was wearing a red Santa suit but missing his hat, and bag. Now, of course, right off the bat most of us all thought that he was a street corner Santa. You know, the kind that stands on the street corner, ringing a bell, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, talking to the kids collecting money for some organization. A lot of the guys had jobs like this during the holidays. Strange thing about this guy was that he couldn’t remember his name or where he came from. Trust me, some of us wanted to forget who we were, and some of us have, but he really couldn’t remember who he was or where he came from. We figured he may have gotten rolled [you need to discuss that term], considering the area that we lived in. So we invited him in and he automatically seemed to know exactly who we were, but still not knowing himself who he was. Now that’s weird. After a bit, we looked around and made sure that we could find him some bedding and a place to sleep, and even something what we would call food. During this time of the year during the holidays, there is always someone that came through the camp sites with either extra clothes or food. For example, there was an older lady named Dottie who is a regular that hadn’t come through for quite some time, but we heard she wasn’t feeling well and we definitely missed her. She would bring hot chocolate mixes, water, cookies, toiletries and whatever else she thought we could use. Unfortunately, not knowing this gentleman’s name, we just decided to call him Kris as in Kris Kringle, I mean it was almost Christmas and he seemed to be okay with being called Kris. We asked him if he could remember where he came from. He said he “couldn’t,” but he did say something out of the ordinary. He said that he remembered it was a cold place, and that it seemed that there were animals all around him, and laughter. He could not remember whether he got hit in the head or other circumstances which might’ve caused his memory loss. We decided not to pressure him, because some of us know how that goes. I told him it was okay because, in are world, we all keep things to ourselves, but then I asked him if he minded if he bunked with me. I had an extra space and a spare sleeping bag, and some extra clothes if he needed to change, but he said “no, thanks.” He was quite warm and was good with what he had, but thanked me and said he would love sharing a tent with me. We then asked him if he would like a cup of coffee, but strangely rejected that idea and asked if we had anything like hot chocolate, that he had a craving for something sweet! So, I asked around and one of the guys, Stormie, actually had a packet or two of hot chocolate mix (you know the kind with the little marshmallows in it) and all you do is add the hot water? So we mixed up a packet for him and he seemed very thankful. The next morning, when we awoke, I found my new bunkmate was gone. It looked like he had been gone for some time and had left during the night. He got up and left. We did not know where he went. We kind of looked around, but couldn’t find him anywhere the funny thing was that it snowed that evening and there wasn’t even a footprint to be found. We went about our morning routine, which was normal for some of us guys by either going out and Panhandle, or finding a job that they didn’t have to worry about dealing with their PTSD (that’s post-traumatic stress disorder if you didn’t know what it is). I myself had a little PTSD, but I could hold a job. It didn’t pay much as I worked at a local burger joint doing cleanup work and maybe, if lucky enough, being able to bring some food home for the guys. Surprisingly enough, as we got back to the camp that evening, we found a Christmas tree in the corner of our little area. We all looked at each other and asked where it came from, or did anybody know about it? Someone said that maybe Dottie had stopped by, but again, who brought it to us? Again, no one had a clue. The other odd thing was that my friend Stormie, who had the hot chocolate packet the night before, found a whole box of hot chocolate packets near where he slept. Again, we thought maybe Dottie had stopped by the camp, but she usually sticks around and doesn’t just drop stuff off. All this, made us wonder what in the world was going on around here. Yes, true enough, Christmas was in a couple of days away. Yet, we couldn’t think that maybe it had something to do with our visitor that evening. Funny though, our friend showed up again that evening, again in his red suit. He still could remember who he was and thanked us for our hospitality from the previous evening. While most of us don’t believe in miracles, you have to admit there is definitely something funny going on here. I mean, he knew a lot about who we were. But we just couldn’t figure it out [figure out what???]. I asked Kris, pulling him aside, and said, “Do you remembered anything from yesterday?” He said nothing. He just kind of looked at me in a funny way, and had a small smile on his face. He undid his coat, took out a pair of glasses, put them on his face, just looked at me and said, “Do you believe in the Christmas spirit”? I looked at him and, humorously said, “That’s the strangest question I’ve ever had asked of me recently. He said, “What’s so funny about it?” I said, “Well look around Kris, it’s not like were exactly expecting miracles around here anytime soon,” although I had to nod my head a bit and say, “Wait a minute, none of us knew where this Christmas tree came from, although we thought maybe someone in the neighborhood might have brought one by for us.” Kris said, “Well, isn’t that a miracle”? After we decided that evening that maybe Kris was just a bit off in the head and that he would fit right in with the rest of us. So, I offered Kris the hospitality of my tent again and the sleeping bag. He accepted and said, “That was a kind offer.” I asked him again if he could remember anything about himself, where he came from or who he really was? And I asked him about the red suit. I said it seems a little funny, but you kind of look like you might be a street corner Santa. Then, he looked at me funny and said “street corner Santa”? I said, “Yeah, I mean you haven’t seen those guys standing on the corners ringing a bell and asking for money?” He just smiled and said, “No I really haven’t paid much attention to that,” which left more questions in the back of my mind. How can someone who’s dressed as Santa not see the others? Now as we were sitting around, Kris looked at me funny. Tipping his glasses down, he looked at me and asked, “So, how’s your family?” I was totally blown away. I looked up at him and said, “How did you know I had a family.” He responded, “Well, everyone has a family, but have you talked to your sister and brothers lately?” I said, “No, we have gotten along in years and every time we get together, it seems like there is nothing but fighting. Again stopping and thinking to myself, how in the world did Kris know about my family? Again, Kris just looked at me and said, “Maybe it’s time you mend the fences. You’re not getting any younger.” All I could do was just look at him and I told him it’s time to go to bed and that I would see him in the morning. As it was, things just didn’t seem to add up when I awoke the next morning. Kris was gone. Then one of the guys surprisingly mentioned that there is now an angel on top of the Christmas tree, where there wasn’t before. We all just stared at each other and had nothing to say. We went about our daily business as always. When we were on the street, and we would see a Santa ringing a bell collecting money, we would go up and were hoping to find Kris, but we didn’t. We asked around on the street, but no one seemed to know of a Santa without a hat they just had the look of disbelief. But as always, as the sun would start to go down, the nights would get colder, and it would snow. Kris would show up at the camp, figuring that maybe he was at another camp. We would be there, surrounded by a fire, trying to keep warm when a couple of my buddies (a Vietnam veteran was complaining about how cold their hands have always been), and Dale was always on the lookout for something for PD. He then asked if we had heard the disturbing news about Dottie, our older lady friend, that she was very ill and was in the hospital. We were all very concerned because we really liked Dottie. We asked around on the street, but no one seemed to remember what hospital she had been admitted to, not that we might be able to get there or do anything to help other than just keep her in our prayers. We would sit around that evening at the fire and talk about all the good things Dottie had done for the veterans in this area. As we sat there, Kris finally asked about Dottie, we asked him how he knew Dottie. He said, “I’ve known Dottie for quite some time, and I know what’s happened to her. She’s in the hospital.” Kris tipped his glasses and looked at me as he did and he said, “Now didn’t worry she’ll be okay,” as he had a smile on his face that we all looked at, and at each other, and just knowing that he was right somehow. He knew, but how did he know? Again, there was no answer to some of the questions – just a smile and a nod, and thanked everyone for the company and allowing him to stay in our camp, and off to bed. Christmas was now only days away, and we had a Christmas tree for the first time that I can remember, and an angel at the top of our tree. With everything else that was going on, one of the guys actually found one of those old cardboard fireplaces and thought it would be kind of festive and funny if we could just put it up next to the tree someplace, I mean it looked a little old and funky using it, but then so did we. One of the guys laughed and said we could always put our fire inside the fireplace. Stormie said, “Why would we want to burn our home down because by the look of that fireplace, it’s the only thing that we haven’t set on fire” LOL. Then Kris walked in and ask how our day was, but somehow always knowing. Then, he kept coming back to me asking me if I reached out to my family. The funny thing is that the next morning on my pillow there was a dime. I couldn’t quite figure out why there would be a dime on my pillow. I thought maybe it might’ve fallen out of my pocket, thinking back to what one of my old Vietnam vet buddy’s once told me that his mom always gave him a dime to remember to call home or something like that. Anyway, while I was having a cup of coffee around our fire, my Vietnam veteran buddy Stu mentioned that his mother always said the same thing. She would always give him a dime “to call someone who loves you.” It was like someone hit me upside the head. That’s what this was about (calling home), and again I looked around and Kris was gone, always the same thing: no footprints, no one ever seemed to know where he went. Christmas Eve was the next day and all of us somehow managed to find things to give to each other. Sometimes, it was just something as simple as a pack of smokes, maybe an extra pair of gloves,. We tried to stay away from the alcohol as none of us really needed it. We had our own problems internally. Somehow, it was just knowing that taking care of each other was the most important thing in our live,,s. Surprisingly enough it really was! Kris came into the camp that evening as always and, as always, asking for a cup of hot chocolate. He actually brought cookies with him. Surprisingly, those were chocolate chip, and I really started to wonder now: here’s a guy that couldn’t remember his name, wore a Santa suit, drinks hot chocolate, and now showed up with chocolate chip cookies. Was I hallucinating? Or did I really think this guy was Santa Claus? But then, the reality check light set in. Nah, it couldn’t be, that’s just stories we tell our kids. And, of course, I get the same question asked me just before we go to bed, if I called my family yet. I would just roll my eyes say goodnight and roll over. Then, I noticed something: Kris slept with his beard outside of the sleeping bag. All I could think was, no way. Christmas Eve was just like any other day for us. We all went about our business trying to stay warm. Someone asked again if they heard about what happened to Dottie, but we really hadn’t had any answers to that question either. So, we went about our business. I went to work and, with the Christmas spirit being what it is, I got a hot meal at work and a little extra to bring home for the guys. Stu was luckier than some of us and, while standing outside a shopping center, a young lady came by and handed him a “scratcher” that had actually won $10 on. At that point in time, $10 seemed like a million. Being that it was Christmas Eve, one of the local shelters would put on special meals. So, we all decided to wait for Kris and the all of us would go over together for Christmas Eve meal. As we waited, time started slipping by and I told everyone else to go on to, the meal and that I would wait for Kris. As I sat around by the fire wondering about my family and what Kris told me, I thought, ‘well maybe I should look into this,’ but then ‘it would take some money to be able call and to buy a bus ticket’ that I didn’t have in order to put this in the motion. I waited longer for Kris, who never seemed to show up, so I went to the shelter and met the guys there. I then asked them, “Where’s Kris?” I said I had no idea if he made it to the camp that night, but then, yet maybe, he had a family or plans for that evening. When we got back to the campsite, Stu manage to say in amazement, “Will you beat this? And, pointing to our fireplace, there, hanging off of it, were five stockings. Each with our names on them, including one for PD. It was a little smaller, but he still got one. I made my way over to it, looked and they were still empty. But all of us started looking around at each other wondering. We thought maybe Dottie was feeling better. After asking around earlier, everyone seemed to think she was still in the hospital; no, I know you’re starting ask who is this Dottie! So let me tell a little bit about Dottie. She started coming around about a year ago. No one trusted her since there had been other groups who have tried to come in and make changes, or to change us. From the get go, she was different. She took no lip from anyone and flat came out and said so, And, that if you didn’t want the help, then don’t waste her time. Her husband was in the military, so she knew where we were coming from. As time went on, she won our trust. She started to bring some of the things she thought we might need, such as socks, coats, food items. Then, a few weeks ago, we heard she wasn’t feeling well since she hadn’t been around, and then finding out that she was in the hospital. Well, let’s just say we all felt really down in the dumps. We really love that old lady. She brought a lot of joy into our lives, and a lot of other veterans lives in the area. That evening, as we were all coming back into the camp, we noticed that Kris had reappeared and seemed to be waiting for us. As we all started filtering in, I walked up to him and asked him where he had been, that we were kind of worried about him. He looked up at me and tilting his eyeglasses down he just smiled and said, “Thanks for worrying.” He then asked me what I was worried about and it seemed that the other guys were worried about something as well? After we got situated, some of the guys started finding something to eat. I started to tell Kris about Dottie and, surprisingly, he stopped me mid-sentence. He said he knew all about it and knew Dottie personally. I thought this was kind of funny since he never mentioned it before, but then we didn’t ask either. He knew that she went out of her way to help veterans in need and would do whatever it took to help someone out. We sat in amazement and just looked at Kris. And, if it wasn’t as cold as __________ (and it was), I probably would’ve been scratching my head. Then, Kris again tipped his eyeglasses down, smiled and said everything will be all right with Dottie, you just have to believe. Once again, I asked Kris if he would like to stay in my tent with me and, once again, he had asked me if I got in touch with my family yet? I said that I had reached out finally and let it go at that. Kris didn’t seem to be happy with that answer at all. He asked me if I was going to go visit them over the holidays? My reply was simply ‘if I had the means’ probably! In saying that if, I was off to sleep, only to wake up again in the morning with Kris being gone with fresh snow on the ground again. This time, something different happened. There were strange tracks around the campsite that we’ve never seen before. They weren’t any animal that we were used to seeing, like dogs or cats, things like that, but definitely wasn’t an animal that we would be used to seeing. They seemed more like hooves then they were animal paws. After getting my things together, I started heading to my job. When I went about ½ a block away, there, laying up next to a tree, I noticed a Santa hat and bag tucked away as if being hid. But something in the back of my mind clicked and I ecided to pick up the hat, which had three bells on it and made the most of amazing sound I never heard. The bag was unusual, as well as it looked like an old duffel bag, but red with the initials on a set of dog tags with SC on it. Picking up the items, I turned around and went back to our camp and stashed them inside my tent for safekeeping. I made my way to work and, along the way, in the back of my mind was a scene of the other streetcorner Santas. I had asked myself some very strange questions about Kris. The strangest was the one where I kept asking myself and kept rejecting, ‘Could Kris really be Santa Claus’? Surprisingly, when I got to work, I had noticed that the calendar at the burger joint I worked at circled it was Christmas Eve, something I totally forgot about or just plain didn’t remember. Throughout the day, I ran into the guys from the camp and decided to tell them what I found that morning near the camp. Almost everyone agreed it was a coincidence and that it was just that someone lost their gear. Although the initials on the bag had everyone scratching their heads as well. That evening, as we all started gathering around the camp, we noticed that our Christmas tree was now lit up. The funny thing is, we don’t have electricity! In that it had just snowed and the funny tracks were back again, but decided we would just spend a quiet Christmas and one of the guys decided to break out singing Christmas carols. As we were singing, in walked Kris and joined in the merriment. But all of a sudden, he made the comment that seemed a little on the strange side, that this was the same thing that was going on all around the world in places just like ours. He had mentioned that one of the members in our camp had asked for peace on earth, and that was something he was working on. Again, we all looked at each other strangely and confused. After hearing Kris and his comments, I got up and went into the tent and came back out with the hat and the bag that I found earlier. I asked Kris if he had any idea who they belong to. He answered, “No, where did you find them? I told him and handed him the hat. He placed it on his head and had the funniest look on his face, and what seemed like a twinkle in his eye. He then said, “so that’s where they went to.” As if to remember everything: who he was and where he came from. He then said, This is Christmas eve, isn’t it? I replied, “yes, it is.” And, with that, Kris got up made his apologies and disappeared into the night. As we all retired to our shelters for the evening, reminiscing of past Christmases, the friends that we made along the way, and those that we’ve lost, we drifted off to sleep wishing and praying for better times ahead. I went to bed that night wondering where Kris had gone off to. When I woke up the next morning on Christmas day, again Kris was nowhere to be found. But there was a note on his sleeping bag that just said “Thank you and your fellow veterans on taking in a complete stranger and making him feel very much at home.” Attached to the note was also a PS and a lottery ticket saying, “you really do need to go play this today and Merry Christmas!” Signed Kris. (SC) I remembered that’s the same initials that were on the dog tags. All I could do was just say, “No way!” As I exit the tent, I found the rest of the guys standing around in amazement, finding different presents under the tree for each of them, and even one there for PD. We wished each other a very Merry Christmas and then Stu said, “I wonder as to where did the presents come from, and by whom.” immediately, one of the guys piped up and said, “he had heard that even Dottie was out of the hospital, that maybe she came by and drop those off. That really didn’t seem to make much sense considering Dottie usually stays around for a cup of cocoa and a little extra to eat as a branch and then just to be BS with everyone. And, what about those strange tracks in the snow. No one ever figured that one out. All the stockings that were hung on the fake fireplace and bits of fruit, some nuts and the scratchers. Unfortunately, the scratchers didn’t reveal much other than a ten-dollar winner and a couple of five-dollar winners, just enough to give everyone hope but no new millionaires in the group. Yet, which was strange in itself, considering that the lottery ticket that was left for me, when I checked it days later, I found that I actually had won the lottery. Thinking back to what Kris had told me, I did actually go home with some of the winnings to visiti my family and heal old wounds. With the help of my family, I started a foundation that we called appropriately “Camp Hope,” to help veterans in need, as my brothers in our camp soon became part of as well. Where, instead of tents, we were actually able to find a building with a kitchen to serve hot food, and a room with plenty of space for beds and outreach programs to help those with PTSD, and other services. So, if you are asking me, do I, could I, or would I believe that a strange man in a red suit that came to a homeless group of vets, and visited me and my friends in our little camp that would change our lives forever, and help a little old lady as well, I would have said NO! Now, after all that’s happened, do I believe? Absolutely! And you should too because anything is possible when you believe! So, are you a believer? The End