Dear Editor:
Many years ago a Canadian man named Robert L. May, depressed and broken hearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night, as his 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing, because Bob’s wife Evelyn was dying of cancer and little Barbara couldn’t understand why her mommy could never come back home.
Barbara looked up into her dad’s eyes and asked, “Why isn’t Mommy just like everybody else’s Mommy?”, causing his jaw to tighten and his eyes to well up with tears, as her question not only brought waves of grief, but also of anger, because hardship had been the story of Bob’s life.
In fact, life was difficult for Bob even when he was a kid, and being too small to compete in sports he was often bullied by other boys, and called names he’d rather not remember, because from his childhood Bob just never seemed to fit in
After completing college Bob married his loving wife Evelyn, landed a job as a copywriter at the Timothy Eaton Department Store in Toronto, and during the Depression he and his wife Evelyn were blessed with a little girl. But, their happiness was short-lived because Evelyn developed cancer which stripped them of their savings, forcing Bob and his daughter to live in a two-room apartment in the poorer area of Toronto.
When his wife died just before Christmas in 1938 Bob struggled hard to make ends meet. But, he was so poor he couldn’t even afford to buy his daughter a Christmas gift. Nevertheless he was determined that if he couldn’t buy her a gift he was going to create a storybook for her!
So, Bob created an animal character in his mind, and told the animal’s story to little Barbara in order to give her comfort and hope, and with each telling Bob embellished his story more and more. But, what was this story Bob was telling his little daughter all about? Well, the story Bob created was his own autobiography, and the character he created, was based on the misfit he was.
So, what was the name of this storybook character? And the answer is his make believe character was a sad and rejected little reindeer named Rudolph with a shiny red nose.
Bob May finished the storybook just in time to give it to the general manager of the T. Eaton Store in Toronto Ontario, who had caught wind of this little storybook and offered him a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book.
The T. Eaton Company went on to print Bob’s book under the title “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distributed it to the children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.
By 1946, Eaton’s publisher wanted to purchase the rights to the book so they could print an updated version, and in an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Eaton’s returned all rights back to Bob May, the book went on to be become a best seller, and many toy and marketing deals followed.
Bob May, who was by now remarried with a growing family, became a very wealthy man from the storybook character he created to comfort his daughter. But, Bob’s story doesn’t end there, because his brother-in-law Johnny Marks created a musical adaptation to Rudolph, and although 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 instantly became a success selling more records than any other Christmas song ever, with the exception of “White Christmas.”
The gift of a father’s love created for his daughter 78 years ago, just kept on blessing him, and from this turnaround in his fortunes Bob May learned a lesson just like his dear little friend Rudolph did — that being different isn’t so bad after all, and being different can be a blessing.
This is a true Canadian story folks, and I thought you might like to hear what an act of fatherly love can do to turn a time of grief into a time of rejoicing, just as Jesus Christ did for us on the cross at Calvary 2000 years ago, and Bob May did for his little daughter 78 years ago
Merry Christmas from Donald Broome and family and may God bless y’all in the coming year
