A great-grandma in New Mexico grew up loving Santa Claus shared a special moment with Father Christmas as she undergoes the final stages of her life.
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The Albequerque woman, named Karen, had recently been entered into hospice care when her famly arranged for the Dec. 9 photoshoot, The Hartsocks’ Photography wrote on Facebook.
Karen had been “Santa’s biggest fan” through her whole life, the photography company wrote. Although she doesn’t talk much anymore, she speaks to her Santa doll in Japanese and even sleeps with it every night.
When Karen was young, she would sneak off to the mall by herself to take photos with the resident mall Santa there, KOAT reported.
Santa Claus brings gift of happy memories to elderly woman with dementia https://t.co/0sZ6kCkcHe pic.twitter.com/FvGWBW7pmL
— KOAT.com (@koat7news) December 19, 2017
At the end of the session, Santa gave Karen a special gift – a custom Busy Blanket, an activity blanket often used by dementia or stroke patients, which was handmade just for her. After receiving the gift, Karen even spoke to Santa, telling him that she loved him and reminiscing about her past visits.
“She just looked at me, and I just felt like I was 10-foot-tall, [10 feet tall]” Santa told KOAT. “You can just see the joy in her face and her eyes and her smile. That’s what Christmas is about.”
(H/T: KOAT)