Though she was a little shellshocked when Santa and Mrs. Claus walked through her front door of her Loveland home, Lily Portillo's excitement shined through her eyes and her smile as the Christmas duo danced alongside her wheelchair to "Jingle Bell Rock," watched her favorite "Dora the Explorer" Christmas movie and talked to her.
"Hey gorgeous," Mrs. Claus, also known as Tina Olson, said to 14-year-old Lily, pointing out that she, too, was wearing snowflake jewelry. "Isn't this perfect? We're snowflake twins."
Olson and her neighbor, Stephen Roth, are the original Santa and Mrs. Claus for the Secret Sleigh Project, which Lily's mom, Sarah Portillo, started in Loveland three years ago to find a way for children facing medical limitations to enjoy a visit from Santa at their homes.
Within days, through social media and word of mouth, Santa and Mrs. Claus were booked to visit 16 children. The next year, five different Santas visited 50 children in three states.
And this year, the joy has spread worldwide. Portillo has 114 registered Santas who have signed up and more than 200 children in 40 states and Canada receiving visits.
Other Santas are on board and waiting to be paired with children in Italy, France and Belgium, and interest has been raised in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Australia.
But no matter how widely it spreads, the Secret Sleigh remains, as it was from the beginning, a simple gift to some very special children.
"It's awesome," said Roth, who takes the time to visit with each of the children and their siblings in their homes, to know their interests before he arrives with a heart full of magical cheer. "We've seen some amazing kids and incredible families. Just incredible."
The idea started with Sarah Portillo, who while sitting in her daughter's bedroom one night thought about how wonderful it would be if Santa could walk through the door. Two weeks later, he did just that.
Portillo shared her vision for other children who, for medical reasons, can't necessarily make it out through the crowds and lines to the malls where Santa traditionally is found.
"I know how it feels," said Portillo.
Now, she and two other dedicated volunteers, Jean Teresa and Tena Green, coordinate Santa Visits nationally and, soon, internationally, from right here in Loveland.
She has to remind herself not to feel guilty about the few children waiting for a Santa to come aboard in their areas and instead to focus on the 208 who had very special visits this year.
"You feel full to the gills," said Portillo
Her daughter, Lily, truly loved her visit, expressing her joy through smiles and answering Santa and Mrs. Claus' questions with two blinks to indicate she understood what they were saying to her.
"Do you feel like a rock star with all these people visiting you?" asked Mrs. Claus. Lily answered with a smile.
Though she seemed to enjoy the entire visit, Lily's smile was brighter when the Clauses watched part of her favorite Christmas movie with her and when Santa told her and her younger brother, 7-year-old Marcello, the story of the four very antique-looking keys that hang from his belt.
One key, the smallest on the ring, is fittingly to the elves' house, one is the key to the sleigh, one is the key to the workshop where the elves make toys, and the fourth? The key to the North Pole.
He told of how he once lost the key to the North Pole, but luckily with the help of the elves and Rudolph with his shiny red nose, he found them in the snow, prompting Mrs. Claus to make him a keychain for his belt.
"If I lose them again, Mama Claus has said I will get no more cookies," said Santa. "I like cookies."
Sister and brother listened to the story, rapt, Marcelo piping up with comments and Lily responding frequently with two blinks of her eyes.
A few minutes later, Olson stepped aside and watched as Santa continued to talk to Lily. That image, of Santa and child, she said, is what inspires the volunteers to sign up and the program to travel across the world, just like Santa's sleigh.
"To see them light up, it's a big heart tug," said Olson, gesturing to Lily. "She's grinning from ear to ear over there."
Added Roth, "She's the reason all of this happens"
Pamela Johnson: 970-699-5405, johnsonp@reporter-herald.com, www.twitter.com/RHPamelaJ.
Font Resize