Christmas seems to have snuck up on me this year but last week I was reminded that it was coming, and coming soon. I got a last minute phone call from a friend asking me to play Santa Clause and faster than I could say "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer," I found myself wearing the famous red costume along with knee length black rubber boots and a mouth full of white cotton as I prepared to have my picture taken with business people across the city.

I had a great time but I must say Santa began to wonder just exactly how he was going to pose for his photograph when he learned the last stop on his tour was at Whispers, the "Adult Shop".

Santa was about to be taught a valuable lesson about how important it is to not prejudge people or situations.

As soon as he walked into the store, Santa was greeted with a hug, a warm, friendly smile and the sparkling eyes and conversation of Vanessa Dubord.

Within minutes, Vanessa asked if I might consider playing Santa the following Thursday but I insisted that I was playing the role just once this year and that I was doing it as a personal favor for a friend. The request was dropped.

Then, just before I left the store, I learned that Vanessa's six-year-old daughter, Brook, has a rare chromosome disease, so rare in fact that fewer that 150 children in the world are born with it. On top of this challenge, they recently learned that Brook is also autistic.

Had Vanessa had wanted me to play Santa for Brook and her friends? As soon as that question was answered, the deal was done and I found myself at Dufferin School last Thursday "ho, ho, hoing" my way into the special needs class with a sack full of pillows that Vanessa had made for each of the kids. She spends a lot of time volunteering with the class.

You may have guessed by now that Santa was more than a little impressed with Vanessa Dubord but when he met her daughter, Tanisha, the most enthusiastic elf he has ever had, his heart was immediately stolen away. Love and joy shines forth from this girl in abundance. My prognosis is that she is a future Neighbourhood Hero who will devote her life in some way to helping others.

Mrs. Braden, her Grade 4 teacher, gave Tanisha the afternoon off to help in her sister's special needs class. She had also stayed up late the night before helping her mom finish the pillows - It seemed their sewing machine had broken at the last minute and they had to finish the job by hand.

When I asked Vanessa about the down side of having a daughter like Brook with such a serious challenge, she paused for a long time and then tears began to flow.

"Tanisha has missed out on so much of her childhood," she whispered. "There are so many things we can't do as a family because Brook can't do them ... but then, on the positive side," she smiled, "Tanisha and her friends have learned a lot of valuable lessons from Brook."

Santa doesn't really prejudge people very often but he must admit there was a little prejudging going on last week just before he entered Whispers. However instead of finding proof for his questionable prejudgments, Santa found a young woman who is one of the most positive, energetic, optimistic, wonderful mothers he has met in a long time.

Call it a Christmas miracle. Santa needed to be reminded of that lesson. Perhaps you did too.