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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 every-body 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 would 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 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.
If he couldn’t buy a gift, he was determined to
make one--a storybook! Bob had created a 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.
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. Wards 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 Wards 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.
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 returning back to bless him again and again.
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.
Lyrics:
Rudolph,
the red-nosed reindeer
had a very
shiny nose.
And if you
ever saw him,
you would
even say it glows.
All of the
other reindeer
used to
laugh and call him names.
They never
let poor Rudolph
join in
any reindeer games.
Then one
foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came
to say:
“Rudolph
with your nose so bright,
won’t you
guide my sleigh tonight?”
Then all
the reindeer loved him
as they
shouted out with glee,
Rudolph
the red-nosed reindeer,
you’ll go down in history!
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