"A true story for Christmas"

  
A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty 
apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife, 
Evelyn, was dying of cancer Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy 
could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why 
isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes 
welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It 
had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob.

Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little 
at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not 
remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did 
complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a 
copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed 
with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer 
stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to 
live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before 
Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy 
a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - 
a storybook! Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the 
animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again 
Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the 
character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own 
autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like 
he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big 
shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on 
Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and 
offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards 
went on to print,_ Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ and distribute it to 
children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and 
distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major 
publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version 
of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights 
back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals 
followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from 
the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn't end 
there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though 
the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah 
Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the 
Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, 
selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of"White
Christmas."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on 
returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, 
just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, 
being different can be a blessing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
2012