For as long as I can remember, my family has had a tradition of having brunch the Sunday before Christmas at Tippecanoe Place in South Bend, Ind. It's a mansion that was previously owned by the Studebaker family and it's especially gorgeous at Christmas. In the beginning, my parents, myself and my brothers, along with three other couples and their families, made the trip every year. My parents met with these couples once a month and one year they decided they wanted to have a special outing with everyone's kids for Christmas. Today, only one other original couple remains besides my parents, but their kids now have kids of their own (and obviously I have a child as well), so we have a whole new generation participating. It's a day I look forward to every year and it's even more special now that I can bring my own little guy.

Except for maybe the first few years, the same Santa has frequented this restaurant for brunch every December, going around to all the tables to listen to each child's Christmas list. I remember listening for his bells and his jolly "ho, ho, ho," mentally preparing for my moment with Santa. It took a few years for Santa to remember us (after all, he sees a lot of kids every December), but eventually he recognized and came to expect our group each year. By this time, my youngest brother was the only child left in the group who was young enough to really get excited about Santa, so Santa always remembered him in particular. Both of my brothers are deaf, so Santa took the extra step of remembering a few signs so he could wish my brothers a merry Christmas without interpretation from my mom. This made my youngest brother love Santa even more.

One year, Santa brought a present for my brother. He remembered how much my brother loved to draw and color, so he gave him some art supplies. All of us were amazed that Santa not only remembered our group every year, but that he took the time to bring my brother a special early Christmas present. The next year, my brother (with my parents) brought a gift for Santa, and so began the annual exchanging of presents between him and Santa at our annual brunch. Even as my brother became a teenager, he still looked forward to talking to Santa at our annual brunch and exchanging presents. In turn, Santa watched with pride as my brother grew from an adorable little boy to a young man in college.

This year was no different--Santa came to our table and visited all of the little ones, then brought out a special present for my brother. However, this year as he brought out the gift, he whispered that this would be his last year at Tippecanoe Place. My brother gave Santa his last gift, a red and black scarf, and told him about his sophomore year in college. Santa then told my brother, with my mom helping to interpret, how much he looked forward to seeing him and our family each year and how honored he was to be able to watch him grow up. My mom cried as she signed and both Santa and my brother had tears in their eyes as they said good-bye.

Later, away from the little ones, we found out that the kind man who had played Santa all these years was a third grade teacher. He is retiring at the end of this school year and going to live with his wife at their vacation home. Next year somone else will serve as Santa and our little ones will grow up only knowing him. For the grown ups, though, the real Santa retired this year.