The Moth - Secret Santa: Jeannie Colon and James Gordon

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

On this episode, we’re sharing stories about Santa. Normally, we don’t air stories that reveal that Santa isn’t real, however, we decided to break that tradition for a special episode. So, if any kids might listen, be warned. Host: Suzanne Rust Storytellers: Jeannie Colon James Gordon The Moth would like to thank its listeners and supporters. Stories like these are made possible by community giving. If you’re not already a member, please consider becoming one or making a one-time donation today at themoth.org/giveback

Welcome to the Malth podcast. I'm Suzanne Rust, curator at the Malth and your host for this episode. We're going to be doing something a little bit different for these next two stories. And to do that, we're going to need you to hide your small children. Don't worry, both of these stories are PG. We're just going to be spilling some holiday secrets if you catch my drift. I'll give you a couple of seconds to find the pause button on your smartphone or speaker. Okay, kids out of the room? Great. Because this episode we're going to be talking about Santa, with two stories that expose one of the most loving betrayals of all time. Normally, we don't air any stories that reveal that Santa Claus doesn't exist. Just in case kids might

be listening. But on this episode, we decided to showcase stories all about Santa and the secret behind him. The real secret Santa, if you will. First up is Jeannie Cologne, with the story about how that first Santa betrayal can really sting and stay with you. She told this at a New York City Community Showcase where the theme was, where the heart is. Here's Jimmy, live with me. I have many fond childhood memories growing up on Hunts Point Avenue in the South Bronx. It was a melting pot of multi-generational, first-generation kids, like myself, a Puerto Ricania growing up in the hood. It was a community that was built around people

from many walks of life, no judgment, and during a period of time where the Bronx was burning, but I didn't care. It was my safe haven, and it was the village that raised me, and I loved it. It was a time of one to years for me, of innocence, of curiosity, and of certainty. I just absolutely loved my community, but guess what I loved most? I loved

Christmas time because guess what? Santa was coming to town! Woohoo! And I couldn't wait, I couldn't wait for Santa to come and bring me all the things I had on my wish list. Christmas time was also a time of family gatherings and my parents always hosted Christmas Eve. And so this particular Christmas I had just turned seven and I learned how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels. So guess what I wanted? I wanted a big girl bike. I wanted all the bells and whistles,

and I was a good girl, and I wanted my bike, and I knew Santa was gonna bring it to me, right? The day would start with the aromas of the Latin cuisine permeating through the air during Christmas holidays of arroz con gandules, empasteles, emperne, and the tableid dress with a velvet sash, white stockings, and black pattern leather shoes. And I was prancing around so pretty and waiting for my family to come and tell me, oh my

God, Gina, you look so beautiful. And maybe I'd get five bucks on the side, right? I would help my mom, because I was a big girl. I was seven years old. I'd carry all the coats and put them on my bed, because let's get real. Who's got closet space big enough to house 25, 30 coats, right? Nobody doesn't exist. So my coat was, I mean, my bed was the closet. And as the day or the evening progressed, I'd sit and watch my dad, my uncles, my aunts, my grandparents,

especially my dad and my uncles, singing off tune to the Latino Navi-Lenio music playing off the record player. Why play the guitar, my uncle played the Guido. And I noticed that every time they drank a cup of milk, they were getting happier. I didn't like milk, because my mom used to trick me to drinking the milk and it was milk of magnesium. Not fun.

But I figured, okay, maybe they like it. It was so endearing to watch my grandparents watching their kids and watching them sing and have a great time. And of course, I thought I could hang with the adults, but I'm seven, right? So I get tired and I crawl into my bed underneath the coats and I fall asleep. I'm thinking, yes, I'm going to sleep. When I wake up, it's going to be daytime and Santa's going to bring me my bike. I get up in the middle of the night, I'm half asleep. And before I cross over to the living room,

I see the front door open. And guess what I see? I see my parents bringing in a silver bike, a cherry apple red bike, and a midnight blue bike. And I was stunned. The next thing I hear is, shh, lo vas a despertar. Shhh, you're gonna wake them up.

And I didn't know how to feel at that time. I was filled with disappointment with shock. And in my little mind, I'm thinking, why would my parents lie to me? And I was so hurt. I forgot that I had to use the bathroom, and I crawled right back onto the coats. And I forgot about it, and I never told anyone about it. But now here it is, 20 years later. I'm a mom. And my preschooler comes home and tells me, oh my God, mommy, I'm writing to Santa. I have a Christmas wishlist. I've been a good girl, mommy. Do you think that I'm going to get everything on the wishlist, Mom? And at that moment, I'm at a crossroads.

Because I had decided years ago that I would never lie to my kids, though my parents lied to me. But as I look down at my precious little girl with her beautiful brown eyes looking up at me, I make a decision to lie. Yes, Mamita. Oh my God, you've been such a great, you've been such a good girl the whole year that you're going to get everything on the wish list. I wanted to create that magic. And how can I disappoint her? And at that point, all I kept thinking was, oh my gosh, I'm going to have to deal with this at some point. Like, is she going to hate me for

lying to her? All right, I'm not even going to think about it now. I'm just going to go with the flow. Right? Three years later, she's seven. And she has older older cousins and all she hears is that ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt you one afternoon and tells me, mommy, I have something to tell you. And I say, what? She says, I know that you're a center. Oh, oh, oh my God, what do I do? I'm busted, that's it. I'm caught in a lie, what do I do? What do I tell her?

Is she going to hate me? And the next thing, she wraps her arms around me and hugs me and tells me, I love you so much, mommy. Thank you so much for fulfilling my dreams of giving me all the gifts on my Christmas wish list. And at that point, I think that I realized that it wasn't about the lie or the betrayal. It was always about love and creating that magic and that curiosity and that wonder that we as children want something magical to believe in and my parents

did it out of love. She was wiser than I was at seven years old. That is for sure. So now 20 years later I have a grand I have a grand, I have a grandchild. I'm a grandmother. And my beautiful little granddaughter comes to me and tells me, me, ma, me, ma, I have a picture of Santa. I wrote him a letter. I've been a good girl. Do you think I'm going to get all the toys on my wish list? And I look at her with love and I say,

yes, mamita, you're gonna get everything on that wish list. Thank you. That was Jeanie Colone. Jeanie is a dedicated wife, proud mother of two beautiful daughters and grandmother to two amazing grandchildren. She's a community leader and advocate working with the release, aging people in prison campaign, fighting for policy changes in prison and other social justice issues. Besides being passionate about her advocacy work and her family, she also enjoys sharing stories about life experiences. I must have been about five when I started to grow a little skeptical about the whole Santa situation. I was a practical kid and

I remember thinking we didn't have a chimney in our New York City apartment, so how was he getting into the place? Through the window? Did he have a key? I wanted to believe, but I also wanted answers, and my parents weren't cooperating. I crept out of my room one Christmas Eve to see what I could see when suddenly I heard a sound in the kitchen. Oh my God! Was he having his cookies and milk? Full of adrenaline, I went running back down the hall, right back into my bed, a believer, at least for a few more years. Our next secret Santa story is from James Gordon who told it at a Chicago Story slam,

where the theme of the night was appropriately joy. Here's James and live with him. James, what are you doing on Saturday? Nothing? Good. I need you at the West Pullman Park District all day, so don't make any other plans. That was my friend, Angel Simmons. And when Angel asked you to do something, you never said no because she rarely asked for anything, but she was always given. She was that person.

And when I said, okay, cool, she looked at me, she said, James, you're not gonna look at me, I said, no, here's the thing you gotta know about me. My friend Angel has gray eyes that sometimes change color to green. I always avoid looking at people straight in the face, who got eyes like that,

cause I always figured they got some voodoo or some witchcraft or some shit with them. One time, one time I was rehearsing lines for a play, and right in the middle of rehearsing lines, I looked at Angel and they changed and I forgot all the rest of the shit. I couldn't remember anything. So I didn't. So I said, okay, cool.

What are we gonna be doing? She says, we're giving out toys to kids. And I said, okay, I love volunteering and stuff. Cool, I'd be more than happy to do that. That was on the Thursday. Friday, 10 o'clock at night, I get a call. James, I got a huge favor to ask you. I'm like, okay, what's up? Our Santa dropped out. I said, what? He said, I said, I said,

drop down. I said, okay. She says, would you be Santa? I said, you know I'm black, right? She says, yeah, James, would you do it? I said, okay, yeah, fine, that's no problem. And I got off the phone and the next one said, my, I'm gonna play Santa today. My mom says, wait, you know you black, right? I said, I know, my, you black. I know what I am, my, okay.

I said, but she ain't gonna ask me so I'm gonna go do it. So I get to the park district. The event doesn't happen to like three o'clock I get to the park district like 130 and I'm there and angels got like three or four Santa outfits laid out None of them fit me. They're like because the other guy was much bigger than me He's like about 30 pounds and a little taller. None of them fit me. So they're sloppy shit So they got pillows and then putting the pillows up underneath me. It felt like, and I would say it felt like project heap,

but mostly y'all wouldn't know what I was talking about. When I said that, you wouldn't, that's good thing, but you wouldn't, you just wouldn't. But just imagine, no, just imagine downtown Chicago with 100 degrees and the humidity is whatever needs to be. It's how to shit under the Santa Claus, dude. And I said, okay, we're gonna have a lot of kids. She said, no, we shouldn't have a lot of kids. And I said, okay, cool. So I'm getting acclimated to the suit. I'm drinking plenty of water. Because like I said, I'm sweating

profusely. It's three o'clock. They say, you're gonna sit in this chair, you're gonna take pictures. Kids are gonna sit on your lap and I said. I said, okay, cool, no problem, all right. So she said it wasn't a lot of kids, right? So I'm sitting behind this curtain. So curiosity says, go look outside, Jim, and see what's going on. You ever been to Great American Six Flags? That's what that shit looked like when I looked out the curtain.

It was a million kids out there. All lined up, jumping up and down, I was like, oh, oh, oh shit, what did I get myself into? And I'm looking out on them. I'm panicking a little bit because it's hot, it's shit underneath the Santa Claus suit. And so they opened up the curtain and it got dead silent. Every pair of eyes was trained on the guy in the chair in the Santa Claus suit, and it was my black ass that was sitting right there at that time.

So the line starts and the kids are coming up, hey Santa, I want such a such a thing, I want to play stadiums. It's going along really well, and then some of the kids have colds, so they're sneezing and it's just like, I'm like, so what in the world? So what in the world? Comes running up. He's got to be like 11. He's wearing glasses, he's dark.

Mine's me, with me at that age. He runs up, he says, hi, I'm Bernard. I say, hey, Bernard, he says, my friends call me Bernie. I said, okay, Bernie, how are you? He said, we're friends Santa? I said, yes, we are. He said, okay, and me Bernie. I said, okay, Bernie, how are you? He said, we're friends Santa? I said, yes, we are. He said, okay, and he hopped on my lap. And I said, what would you like for Christmas, Bernie?

He doesn't say anything. He reaches up and pulls down my beard. He says, Santa, you're black. And I said, yeah, and Bernie says, just like me, I'm black too. I said, yeah. He said, so if I wanted to be Santa, I could. I said, you can be whatever you want to be. You want to be Santa?

He says, no, I don't want to be Santa. He said, I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I said, okay, that's cool. But that's not all. I said, what else do you want to be? He said, Santa want to be a doctor when I grow up. I said, okay, that's cool. He said, but that's not all. I said, what else do you want to be? He said, Santa, don't laugh. I want to be Batman. I'm been those to him Batman is my favorite superhero all time.

I'm like, oh my God, now hug him. I'm like, yes, you can be Batman, Bernie. He hops up off me. He says, thank you, Santa. And he takes two steps away and he comes back. I said what's wrong? And he hugged me. And he says I love you, Santa.

And I said, oh. And the rest of the day went and we were done. I finally got out there hot as soup. And then you said, you make those kids so happy today. You made them so happy. That was two years ago. This Saturday I dawned the Santa Claus suit again. And the thing about it is, I hope I bring some happiness to those kids.

But it's me, feeling elated about putting on a suit this Saturday. Thank you. That was James Gordon. James is an internationally award-winning author and poet, champion storyteller and critically acclaimed actor. He's a member of Act PECDARK. That's it for this episode. The Moth would like to thank its supporters and listeners. Stories like these are made possible by community giving. If you're not already a member, please consider becoming one or making a one-time donation

today at themoth.org slash give back. From all of us here at The Moth, we hope that Santa brings you some wonderful stories this holiday season. Suzanne Rost is the most senior curatorial producer and one of the hosts of The Moth Radio Hour. In addition to finding new voices and fresh stories for The Moth stage, Suzanne creates playlists and helps curate special storytelling events. This episode of The Moth Podcast was produced by Sarah Austin Janess, Sarah Jane Johnson, and me, Mark Sellinger. The rest of The Mouth's leadership team includes

Sarah Haberman, Jennifer Hickson, Meg Bulls, Kate Tellers, Marina Kluchay, Susan Rest, Brandon Grant Walker, Leigh Ann Gully, and Aldi Kasa. All Mouth stories are true, as remembered by the storytellers. For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story, and everything else, go to our website, themoth.org. The Moth podcast is presented by PIRX, the Public Radio Exchange, helping make public radio more public at pirex.org.