12-24-15

It is Christmas eve.  All night channel 801 on DirecTV was playing the Christmas music I love to hear so much.  Later when the family is out of bed FM 96.5 will be playing on our stereo at a moderate level.  I could not sleep much last night and have been bouncing around different websites since 6am.  There are no dates scheduled today, and that is fine.

Well Junior is excited about Christmas, but I don’t think that will keep him from sleeping like it did for me for many years.  Part of the plan is to keep him busy so he knocks out tonight and Santa can visit the home while he is dreaming.  The tree has a many presents under it but his bike will come after he sleeps.  This is not the Mexican custom, however probably in a few years we will switch to a house party on the 24th and open presents then.  Honestly if we did that tonight there would be no sleeping and I do value my sleep.  I do have a half gallon of eggnog and we will not be adding any alcohol.

Around 3pm my family and some like minded people will be putting together 72 bags of candy for random children.  Every bag will include a pack of hot chocolate and a candy cane with many more surprises.  When it turns dark, we will hit the streets and surprise some youngsters and their parents.  I have a Santa Claus costume that I will wear, and everyone else will be wear a Santa hat.   It will not be perfect, but the uniform and the festivities will be with a lot of love and heart.

This is the first year of the Santa costume, but the third year of doing this.   72 bags is not much but it is a start.  We will have a police escort and maybe in some small way, folks can embrace the Municipal Police and the officers can get caught in the moment.  I know many will be skeptical, but it is a start.

I have adopted Tijuana as my city.  Now I know that very few if any locals care about that, but I will not let that discourage me.  With all our flaws, how tough can it be to embrace the Holiday and bring smiles to a few children.  Selfishly I want my 4 year old see the joy you can get out of sharing, that Christmas is not about getting but it is all about giving.

Plans are in the works to build a website to get others involved.  My dream is to see many merchants donate something like a meal or a sandwich and in return put them on the site as a contributor to the cause.  Who knows maybe in years to come the fire department can become involved.  Our website will have pictures showing our effort and hopefully that will get merchants to help embrace this idea.

So where ever you are, remember to be safe first. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year and 2016 will be great.