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Abie, a shy and retiring gentleman who lives a bit southwest, set this one about
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. While you may have heard some version of
the story, it's always good to read again and again...

The True Story of Rudolph

A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty
apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife,
Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her
mommy could never come home.

Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just
like everybody else's Mommy?"

Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought
waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life
always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often
bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports.
He was often called names he'd rather not remember.

From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did
complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job
as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression.

Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's
bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his
daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums.

Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938. Bob struggled to give hope
to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if
he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - a storybook! Bob
had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story
to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the
story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What
was the story all about?

The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The
character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the
character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob
finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.
But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook
and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book.
Ward’s went on to print, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute
it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed
and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a
major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Ward's to print an updated
version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights
back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals
followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy
from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter.

But the story doesn't end there either. Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks,
made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by
such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by
the singing cowboy, Gene Autry.

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a
phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song,
with the exception of "White Christmas." The gift of love that Bob May
created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him
again and again.

And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being
different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Enjoy life... it has an expiration date!
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