Rudolph's Light/Inspiration

[Guest guest]

Story of Rudolph

On a December night in Chicago several years ago, a little girl climbed

onto her father's lap and asked a question. It was a simple question,

asked in children's curiosity, yet it had a heart-rending effect on

May.

" Daddy, " four-year old Barbara asked, " Why isn't my Mommy just like

everybody else's mommy? " Bob May stole a glance across his shabby two

room apartment. On a couch lay his young wife, , racked with

cancer. For two years she had been bedridden; for two years, all Bob's

income and smaller savings had gone to pay for treatments and

medicines. The terrible ordeal already had shattered two adult lives.

Now Bob suddenly realized the happiness of his growing daughter was also

in jeopardy. As he ran his fingers through Barbara's hair, he prayed for

some satisfactory answer to her question.

Bob May knew only too well what it meant to be " different. " As a child

he had been weak and delicate. With the innocent cruelty of children,

his playmates had continually goaded the stunted, skinny lad to tears.

Later at Dartmouth, from which he was graduated in 1926, Bob May was so

small that he was always being mistaken for someone's little brother.

Nor was his adult life much happier. Unlike many of his classmates who

floated from college into plush jobs, Bob became a lowly copy writer for

Montgomery Ward, the big Chicago mail order house. Now at 33 Bob was

deep in debt, depressed and sad.

Although Bob did not know it at the time, the answer he gave the tousled

haired child on his lap was to bring him to fame and fortune. It was

also to bring joy to countless thousands of children like his own

Barbara. On that December night in the shabby Chicago apartment, Bob

cradled his little girl's head against his shoulder and began to tell a

story...

" Once upon a time there was a reindeer named Rudolph, the only reindeer

in the world that had a big red nose. Naturally people called him

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. " As Bob went on to tell about Rudolph,

he tried desperately to communicate to Barbara the knowledge that, even

though some creatures of God are strange and different, they often enjoy

the miraculous power to make others happy.

Rudolph, Bob explained, was terribly embarrassed by his unique

nose.Other reindeer laughed at him; his mother and father and sister

were mortified too. Even Rudolph wallowed in self pity. " Well, "

continued Bob, " one Christmas Eve, Santa Claus got his team of husky

reindeer - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen ready for their yearly

trip around the world.

The entire reindeer community assembled to cheer these great heroes on

their way. But a terrible fog engulfed the earth that evening, and

Santa knew that the mist was so thick he wouldn't be able to find any

chimneys.

Suddenly Rudolph appeared, his red nose glowing brighter than ever.Santa

sensed at once that here was the answer to his perplexing problem. He

led Rudolph to the front of the sleigh, fastened the harness and climbed

in.

They were off! Rudolph guided Santa safely to every chimney that

night.Rain and fog, snow and sleet; nothing bothered Rudolph, for his

bright nose penetrated the mist like a beacon.

And so it was that Rudolph became the most famous and beloved of all the

reindeer. The huge red nose he once hid in shame was now the envy of

every buck and doe in the reindeer world. Santa Claus told everyone that

Rudolph had saved the day and from that Christmas, Rudolph has been

living serenely and happy.

Little Barbara laughed with glee when her father finished. Every night

she begged him to repeat the tale until finally Bob could rattle it off

in his sleep. Then, at Christmas time he decided to make the story into

a poem like " The Night Before Christmas " and prepare it in bookish form

illustrated with pictures, for Barbara's personal gift. Night after

night, Bob worked on the verses after Barbara had gone to bed for he was

determined his daughter should have a worthwhile gift, even though

he could not afford to buy one...

Then as Bob was about to put the finishing touches on Rudolph, tragedy

struck. May died. Bob, his hopes crushed, turned to Barbara as

chief comfort. Yet, despite his grief, he sat at his desk in the quiet,

now lonely apartment, and worked on " Rudolph " with tears in his eyes.

Shortly after Barbara had cried with joy over his handmade gift on

Christmas morning, Bob was asked to an employee's holiday party at

Montgomery Wards. He didn't want to go, but his office associates

insisted. When Bob finally agreed, he took with him the poem and read

it to the crowd. First the noisy throng listened in laughter and

gaiety. Then they became silent, and at the end, broke into spontaneous

applause. That was in 1938.

By Christmas of 1947, some 6,000,000 copies of the booklet had been

given away or sold, making Rudolph one of the most widely distributed

books in the world. The demand for Rudolph sponsored products, increased

so much in variety and number that educators and historians predicted

Rudolph would come to occupy a permanent place in the

Christmas legend.

Through the years of unhappiness, the tragedy of his wife's death and

his ultimate success with Rudolph, Bob May has captured a sense of

serenity. And as each Christmas rolls around he recalls with

thankfulness the night when his daughter, Barbara's questions inspired

him to write the story.

Contributed by Anette Lesur