Santa Claus ‘an idea that brings joy’
Letter carrier reaches out to believers and non-believers
Mark Gronski has always believed.
He wishes more did.
So the veteran letter carrier decided to make a couple of Christmas miracles happen, delivering a present to a child who believed in Santa Claus and to one who didn’t.
“The little one who doesn’t believe in Santa, it’s just the saddest thing to me,” said Gronski, who works part-time during the holidays dressed in a red suit and white beard. “How do you not believe in Santa? What happened to make you not believe?”
Gronski knows that St. Nick doesn’t really live at the North Pole, or work with elves to make Christmas presents. And the reindeer-pulled sleigh flying all over the world delivering gifts is a little far-fetched, he admits.
“It’s not about those things,” said Gronski, who sports a bushy white beard and works his mail delivery route sporting a Santa hat. “Santa isn’t a person, it’s an idea that brings joy. I don’t ever want us to lose that.”
Gronski represented the United States Postal Service during Norfolk’s Grand Illumination parade last month and was disappointed he was given only four letters to Santa. He said he used to get thousands.
One of the letters had a return address, so he decided to make that child’s wish come true. A little girl wrote to Santa that she was sick and was going to be getting surgery soon. She wanted a crate for her record collection. He delivered that gift to her on Christmas Eve.
During an event at St. John the Apostle Catholic School in Virginia Beach earlier this month, Gronski met a young boy who said he didn’t believe.
“He told me his parents never gave him gifts from Santa and that’s why he didn’t believe,” Gronski said. “So I asked him if he did believe, what would he want
Santa to bring him.”
Gronski delivered a pair of bowling shoes to the boy Christmas morning.
“Things like that are what the spirit of Christmas and Santa are all about,” he said. “It’s about the excitement and joy of seeing Santa. It’s about writing him letters and seeing the presents under the tree.
“It seems to me that some of those traditions aren’t as strong as they used to be, and that saddens me.”
Gronski said he counts the days each year, when Christmas and his beliefs in the spirit of the season return.
“I went to a special dance with Santa for special needs kids in Virginia Beach, and all the love from those kids when they see Santa,” he said, “you just can’t put a price on that.”
“Things like that are what the spirit of Christmas and Santa are all about. It’s about the excitement and joy of seeing Santa. It’s about writing him letters and seeing the presents under the tree.”
— Mark Gronski