Staying Fit
When Leticia Flores-Gonzalez’s twin daughters decided they wanted to send letters to Santa Claus, they opted for message by helium balloon, instead of going through the mail.
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Four-year-old twins Luna and Gianella sent their Christmas wish lists off last year from their home in Liberal, Kansas, but Flores-Gonzalez, 38, a stay-at-home mom, didn’t think the missives would get far. The winds of fate had another idea.
The balloon traveled 650 miles away, where retired pharmaceutical sales rep Alvin Bamburg, 66, of Shreveport, Louisiana, found his calling as one of Santa’s elves.
Alvin Bamburg: Someone up there wanted this to happen. Maybe it was Santa. Maybe someone even higher up. But this was no accident.
Santa’s Helper Brings Cheer to 4-Year-Old Twins
Leticia Flores-Gonzalez: Last year, I’d been doing arts-and-crafts projects with my 4-year-old twins, Luna and Gianella. In December, we were looking for a different way to get their notes to Santa, so we tied their wish lists to balloons. I figured they’d get caught in the pine trees above our mobile home or deflate in the cold air.
Alvin: Two days before Christmas, I’m riding on an ATV trail in Grand Cane, Louisiana, and notice some red Mylar tangled up in a fallen-down tree. There’s a yellow note. I open it and see the words “Dear Santa” and a list of four or five items, including a puppy. I call my wife and say, “We’ve got to help.” She puts a picture of the balloon on Facebook, and within 24 hours we find the family in Liberal, Kansas — 650 miles away! By that time, lots of our family and friends wanted to help fulfill the wishes.
Leticia: My jaw dropped. I told the girls, “I think one of Santa’s elves found one of your balloons.”
Alvin: I knew it would light up the lives of those girls if somebody delivered what they asked for. Of course, I needed the mom’s permission to get the puppy.
Leticia: Alvin sent us toys and games for both girls and we’ve stayed in touch, back and forth, with Alvin the Elf—that’s what the girls call him. After a few months of getting to know each other, we all met up in Oklahoma City. Alvin and his wife stayed there with my parents. It was truly like meeting old friends.
Alvin: They made us a feast of Mexican food, and we cooked them up some Louisiana sausage and gumbo. Oh, yeah, and we brought the girls that puppy. A little dappled dachshund that they named Max.
Leticia: These were strangers, and now we’re like family. It all shows the girls that there are genuinely good people on this earth.
Alvin: Finding that balloon opened something new in my life. It brought unexpected friendship at a time when there’s so much hard stuff happening. It reminds me that if you’re thinking about doing something nice, sometimes you’ve just got to do it.
Contributing editor David Hochman, 55, also writes for The New York Times, GQ and Forbes.
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