The first time I saw the real Santa, he drove a big, charcoal-colored truck, not a cherry red sleigh, in the August heat. He wasn't what I 1 at all.
My husband had lost his job early in July, and we'd been 2 expenses everywhere we could. He'd been looking for a job but 3 .
One afternoon, we were feeling particularly 4 so we decided to treat ourselves to a meal from McDonald's. Just a quick drive-through run, no big deal. When we got to the window to pay, the employee said our meal had been taken care of by the car 5 us. We attempted to keep the pay-it-forward chain going by offering to pay for the 6 for the car behind us. "No, that man just paid for everyone in line," said the employee. She 7 toward the truck that was slowly pulling away to 8 the parking lot. We had no choice but to get 9 with the fact that a stranger had just done something kind for us, and there was no way to repay it, pay it forward, etc.
I looked toward the truck and thought I could see the man's grin in the driver's side 10 . He 11 his hand out the window and gave a cheerful wave, and it 12 reminded me of the illustration of a Christmas poem where Santa was flying away into the night, gloved hand up in a goodbye wave.
It seemed like a little 13 that we'd be alright. My husband found a wonderful job shortly after that. We've gone on to do random acts of 14 for others, remembering the effect this free meal had on us that 15 day when Santa drove a truck and left with a big grin and a little wave.
