HOLIDAY HAPPINESS

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey it's Delilah. Thank you for stopping by. I have
put together some of my favorite radio moments here to
share with you on our daily podcast through Hey It's Delilah.
It's the most wonderful time of the year. We're going

(00:23):
to be sharing some of your meaningful, funny and timeless
holiday stories and traditions right here all season long.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Thanks for joining me today. I received this amazing story
from a man named Michael, and the story is called
the Missing Husband. I wasn't convinced that it was true
at first, but after becoming friends with Michael, I know
that this is a true story and I think it
will touch your heart. Michael writes, Dear Delilah, many people

(00:56):
have asked me if I play Santa because of my
white hair and my beard. In early November in nineteen
sixty seven, in plain street clothes, I was in a
department store window shopping for possible Christmas gifts. Out of
the corner of my eye, I noticed a young woman
watching me. At first, I thought nothing of it. Many

(01:16):
people stare at my white hair and my beard. Finally,
the lady came up to me and addressed me as Santa. Softly,
she confided Santa, I need to talk to you for
a moment. It's real important. She reached into her purse
and retrieved three aged letters, explaining, I know it sounds
silly for a grown woman to still believe in Santa Claus,

(01:38):
and I'm not sure how I really believe, but I
need your help. These are letters I wrote to you
for the last three years, but I had no idea
how to get them to you. You see, my husband,
a journalist, was on his way to cover the Vietnam
War back in the summer of nineteen sixty three when
his plane disappeared a few hours after takeoff. They assumed

(02:01):
that the plane and everyone on board went down in
the Pacific somewhere. We had only been married six months
when he took that trip, and my heart knows that
he's still alive somewhere. I've kept all the birthday, anniversary
and Christmas presents, waiting to give them to him in person,
but no one can find him. She sobbed as she continued,

(02:21):
I don't know what you can do, but I had
to ask for your help. Whoever you are, will you
please help me. I got her name and address, the
name of her husband and a copy of one of
his pictures. I told her that I would not forget
her or her husband, and that I would do all
that I could. I was surprised that she, after four years,
had not remarried as many other war wives had done.

(02:44):
With rivers of tears plummeting down her cheeks, she declared,
with unending commitment, eternity is not over yet. I knew
from the start that I would love him throughout all eternity,
and I promised him so for some love like that come.
But once then she simply walked away. I carried that

(03:05):
young man's tattered picture with me everywhere I went. I
checked with countless authorities, but I couldn't find out any
more information. I was determined not to give up, no
matter how long it took. By December eighteenth of the
same year, I was in Manila, in the Philippines for
a series of speaking and singing engagements. After a charity concert,
a medical friend of mine invited me to his home

(03:27):
on the eastern coast. He wanted his patience to be
able to see Santa Claus. While there, he told me
of a young man who had been washed up onto
the shore years ago, and he had had amnesia ever since,
they had no idea who he was. It took only
one look at him for me to realize he was
the missing husband. When I called him by his name,

(03:50):
his face lit up and his amnesia disappeared. He quickly
explained how his plane had developed engine trouble over the
Philippine Sea and he went down into the ocean. Somehow
he got out of the plane and drifted for a
few days, floating on the seat cushion, spared the dangers
of the predatory sea creatures. He washed up onto the
shore and was attended by the hospital from that point on.

(04:12):
Even with his amnesia now gone, it all seemed like
a bad dream. When I told him my story, he
cried bitterly. He wanted to get word to his wife
as soon as possible, but I suggested a different plan.
I made all the necessary arrangements and then had him
join me on my trip back home. On Christmas Eve,

(04:34):
I knocked at the wife's front door, and when she answered,
she was surprised to see me again, this time in
my full red suit. Then I reached just past the
door and pulled her missing husband into the light. The
young wife cut loose with a scream of joy, and
they both kissed and kissed and kissed as they both cried,

(04:58):
falling down on their knees from the intense emotions. They
had three children. The first was named Christopher after Chris Kringle,
and they now have seven grandchildren. As for me, they
call me Grandpa Santa, even though they know my real name.

(05:22):
Hi Michael, Hello, what are you thinking about as we
celebrate the holidays together?

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Oh? Actually that I miss my kids. They're both grown
up now.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
And will they be home for Christmas?

Speaker 3 (05:36):
No, my son's in the Marine Corps and I'm not
exactly sure where he is.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Ooh, so there's a lot of thoughts and prayers going
out to him. What's his name?

Speaker 3 (05:44):
His name's Jeremy.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
And what's the story you want to share with me tonight?

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Well, I'd just been listening to all these stories. I
remember Christmas Eve nineteen sixty eight, the Apollo eight broadcast
I was supposed to beginning. I was fourteen years old.
I was supposed to be getting ready to go to
midnight mass. I caught the broadcast out of the corner
of my eye, And did you seem to draw everybody
over to the TV set? It was pictures of the

(06:10):
moon from sixty miles away, and picture picture of the
Earth hanging there, that nice blue and white ball and
a totally black sky. You may remember that Bill Anders,
Jim Lovell, and Frank Barmon read from Genesis that night.
It was a pretty powerful sight, really, to have them
reading from Genesis and seeing the magnificent desolation of the

(06:33):
moon and contrasting that with our bright, little blue planet
out there in the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
So you had your own midnight mass of sorts.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yes, I think you could say that.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Wasn't in a chapel, wasn't with a lot of frankencense
and myrrh and incense. But it sounds like it touched
your heart and God spoke to you.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Nonetheless, I think I think God spoke to everybody that night.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
It was.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
I'm still awestruck by it. The pictures from that night.
There are no boundaries from two hundred and twenty five
thousand miles away. When you're looking at the Earth, it's
just one Earth, and we've kind of got to all
learn to get along together. I think.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, from that far away, you don't see those imaginary
lines we've drawn that says you belong there, and I
belong here, and if you don't like it, I'll shoot you.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
No, they don't exist. You can look at the earth
and see that it's dinner time in one place and
lunchtime and another place without moving your head at all.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
I so hope you have enjoyed these radio moments as
much as I enjoy bringing them to you. I'll share
more with you each weekday on Hey, it's Delilah.