Roy Exum: The Day A Santa Cried

  • Tuesday, December 13, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

There is a story about an elderly man, who obviously lived by himself and struggled with loneliness, who would go to the park each afternoon and take a bag of bread crumbs to feed the pigeons as he would sit in solitude. One particular day a young boy, who it was later learned was abused at home, sat next to the old man without saying one word.

The man carefully scooped a handful of crumbs out of his bag and put them in the cupped hands of the boy. Silently, the two fed the pigeons together. When the last of the crumbs had been tossed, the boy looked up at the man and asked, “Sir, are you God?”

With equal softness, the old man paused and then replied, “You know... I was just getting ready to ask you the same thing.”

* * *

A dear friend of mine shared a truth with me last week, “You can fake that you care about somebody, but you can’t fake showing up.”

I am thinking that is what went through Eric Schmitt-Matzen’s head several day ago when he got a call from a pediatric nurse at a nearby yet undisclosed hospital. Eric is the president/owner of Packing Seals & Engineering in Jacksboro, a little town in Campbell County at the very top of East Tennessee, and somehow my lifelong friend Sam Venable got wind of a very special moment.

First, way back in the day Sam and I worked together at the former Chattanooga News-Free Press. He left to take the Outdoor Editor’s job at the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Today Sam is one of the best story-tellers in the newspaper business. As the paper’s lead columnist, he got in touch with Eric, who makes about 90-odd appearances every year as the most genuine Santa Claus you ever saw.

Eric told Sam, “I’d just gotten home from work that day,” he said. “The telephone rang. It was a nurse I know who works at the hospital. She said there was a very sick 5-year-old boy who wanted to see Santa Claus. I told her, ‘OK, just let me change into my outfit.’ She said, ‘There isn’t time for that. Your Santa suspenders are good enough. Come right now.’ ”

Within 15 minutes Eric walked down the hall. You need to know his beard and white mustache are ever more genuine. As a matter of fact, he won first place in the “natural full beard, styled moustache” division of a 2016 national contest sponsored by the Just For Men hair products company and regularly bleaches his facial hair to keep it bright white.

The nurse had wrapped a small present and she called the family that was gathered around the bed in the Intensive Care Unit. “I sized up the situation and told everyone, ‘If you think you’re going to lose it, please leave the room. If I see you crying, I’ll break down and can’t do my job.’ ”

And then the 6-foot, 300-pound Schmitt-Matzen approached the bed. The family stayed in the halfway area, watching through a window and their tears. From here I’ll let Sam tell about it in his inimitable style:

* * *

“When I walked in, he was laying there, so weak it looked like he was ready to fall asleep. I sat down on his bed and asked, ‘Say, what’s this I hear about you’re gonna’ miss Christmas? There’s no way you can miss Christmas! Why, you’re my Number One elf!

“He looked up and said, ‘I am?’

“I said, ‘Sure!’

“I gave him the present. He was so weak he could barely open the wrapping paper. When he saw what was inside, he flashed a big smile and laid his head back down.

‘“They say I’m gonna’ die,’ he told me. ‘How can I tell when I get to where I’m going?’

“I said, ‘Can you do me a big favor?’

“He said, ‘Sure!’

“When you get there, you tell ’em you’re Santa’s Number One elf, and I know they’ll let you in.

“He said, ‘They will?’

“I said, ‘Sure!’

“He kinda sat up and gave me a big hug and asked one more question: ‘Santa, can you help me?’

“I wrapped my arms around him. Before I could say anything, he died right there. I let him stay, just kept hugging and holding on to him.

“Everyone outside the room realized what happened. His mother ran in. She was screaming, ‘No, no, not yet!’ I handed her son back and left as fast as I could.

“I spent four years in the Army with the 75th Rangers, and I’ve seen my share of (stuff). But I ran by the nurses’ station bawling my head off. I know nurses and doctors see things like that every day, but I don’t know how they can take it.’”

“I cried all the way home,” Schmitt-Matzen told Venable. “I was crying so hard, I had a tough time seeing good enough to drive.

“My wife and I were scheduled to visit our grandchildren in Nashville the next day, but I told her to go by herself. I was a basket case for three days. It took me a week or two to stop thinking about it all the time. Actually, I thought I might crack up and never be able to play the part again.”

* * *

Schmitt-Matzen said his anguish was so severe he was nearly certain he would never don his red suit and shiny black belt again. “I’m just not cut out for this,” he had repeatedly told himself. But, at the urging of the hospital staff and the pleading nurses, he finally agreed to one last tour. And that’s all it took.

“When I saw all those children laughing, it brought me back into the fold. It made me realize the role I have to play.

“For them and for me.”

And this I know to be true: “You can’t fake showing up.”

* * *

“Sir, are you God?”

“You know… I was just getting ready to ask you the same thing.”

* * *

If you happen to find you have one extra Christmas card, you might consider sending it to Eric Schmitt-Matzen, “The Best Santa Claus Ever!” Packing Seals and Engineering, 191 East Industrial Park Drive, Jacksboro, TN 37757.

royexum@aol.com

Eric Schmitt-Matzen
Eric Schmitt-Matzen
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