Column: Is Santa Claus for real?

With the exception of "the birds and the bees," there is probably no more sensitive topic to discuss with our children than the existence of Santa Claus.

For the record, I believe in Santa Claus. Yup, I do.

He has been a part of each of my past 44 Christmases, no matter where I lived or my circumstances.

Whether I was getting gifts or giving them, Santa has played a pivotal role in my life.

When I was a little boy, I'd try to sneak down the stairs in the middle of the night and peek into the living room, which was always dark and still. I would never see anything.

One year when I was about five, my sister and I swore we heard "clatter" on the roof, like the thud of reindeer hooves. Not that we really knew what that sounded like, but it was Christmas Eve, after all. What else would we have concluded?

We decided to sneak downstairs and peak into the living room, where the Christmas tree was. Nothing. Totally dark and silent.

Disappointed, we went back to bed; although it would be hours before we fell back to sleep. But when we did, it seemed like we were out for just a few minutes before the light of morning shone through our bedroom window.

Excited, we ran out of our room and down the stairs — careful to step over the family German Shepherd, Duke, who liked to sleep on the steps — where Mom met us, shaking her finger that it wasn't quite time for Christmas yet.

"Did Santa come?" we asked Mom impatiently.

"Yes, he did," she replied. "We must wait for your father first, though."

Dad got up early every morning, even on Christmas, to feed the livestock. It was Christmas for them, too.

Dad often brought carrots out for his horses on Christmas, his way of showing Santa's love to them.

Little did we know at the time that the carrots we had set out for Santa's reindeer the night before were the very root vegetables Dad fed to the horses.

As we got older, we eventually realized this. But instead of questioning whether or not Santa Claus was a real person, we decided to get into the act with Mom and Dad.

While Dad tended to the barn animals Christmas morning, my sister and I would do "Christmas" with the family dogs and cats, giving them special treats.

We soon recognized that we were Santa Claus to the family pets, leading us to conclude that the secret to Santa Claus existed in each of us.

The key to Santa Claus is in being Santa to others.

Santa Claus first existed in the person of Saint Nicholas, a third century Christian bishop who gained a reputation for his philanthropy.

According to history, Bishop Nicholas was born to wealthy, but devout Christian parents. When they died suddenly from an epidemic, Nicholas followed the words of Jesus, selling what he owned and giving the money to the poor.

He used his entire family inheritance to help the needy, the sick and the suffering, dedicating his life to serving God.

His generosity became famous. So did his love for children.

He was given sainthood by the Church upon his death on Dec. 6, 343 A.D. and the anniversary of his passing became a day of annual celebration called St. Nicholas Day.

In the nearly 1,700 years that followed, Nicholas' legend and the stories of his many good deeds of giving grew, spreading far and wide.

One of the most familiar is a story first published in 1823 by poet Clement Clarke Moore of a jolly, little old elf in a red suit who climbed down chimneys and surprised little children with toys in their stockings on Christmas morning.

Since then, the image of Santa Claus and his eight tiny reindeer as described in "The Night Before Christmas" has stuck with cultures around the world.

While there was only one St. Nicholas in history, there have been many Santa Clauses and countless secret Santas over the years.

I'm not talking about the stereotypical mall Santas, many of whom wear rented suits and phony beards that often sag below the lip line. We know those guys aren't the real deal.

But they are on Santa's team nonetheless — most of them with hearts in the right place — even if it's obvious they are in costume.

Some of those Santas even do a lot more than sit and listen to lines of children give their Christmas wishes. They actually bring those dreams to life, volunteering their time for charity to meet needs and make wishes come true.

You've seen them at food and donation drives around the area. One of them even flew in by helicopter to be part of Holiday With a Hero this past Wednesday.

Then there are the myriad Santas who don't wear red suits. Some wear uniforms, others plain clothing. Some are very young and some are older. But they, too, are delivering wishes and fulfilling needs during the holiday season.

The U.S. Marine Corps has sponsored Toys For Tots for decades. They, along with the thousands of volunteers and agencies nationwide that participate in the toy drive, may not be the ones physically putting presents under the tree or filling stockings, but they are the secret Santas responsible for bringing joy to numerous low-income children each year.

The first-responders and military personnel who each partner with a needy child during Holiday With a Hero may not wear the red suit or have a large white beard, either, but they are giving of themselves to be Santa to children who might not otherwise experience the joy of Christmas.

School children hold donation drives and collections for the needy as well as service men and women deployed on active duty overseas. They are most certainly secret Santas to others.

One of the best explanations of the existence of Santa Claus can be found in the experience of one parent, whose story has gone viral over social media in recent years.

Her explanation of who Santa is and what he does is probably the best I've ever read, and confirms what I have known all along about him.

According to the parent, she takes her child out to lunch and tells them, "You sure have grown an awful lot this year. Not only are you taller, but I can see that your heart has grown, too." Then, giving two or three examples of the child's recent good deeds, the "truth" is revealed to him or her.

"Your heart has grown so much that I think you are ready to become a Santa Claus," the parent says. "You probably have noticed that most of the Santas you see are people dressed up like him.

"Some of your friends might have even told you that there is no Santa," she continues. "A lot of children think that, because they aren't ready to be a Santa yet, but you are."

When the child reaches the conclusion that being Santa spreads good feelings from themselves to others, they see the value in it and are ready to be a secret Santa Claus to someone else.

It could be a family member, friend or neighbor. Whoever it is, the child becomes Santa Claus by learning what that person needs, and then fulfills it; all the while remaining anonymous to that person, even to the point of delivering the gift in secret.

Just like Santa Claus, whose original embodiment of Saint Nicholas taught others that being a Santa isn't about getting credit, it's about giving unselfishly of oneself to bring joy to the hearts of others.

There are lots of Santas among us. Many are parents, grandparents or guardians, who secretly place gifts under the Christmas tree and say only that they are from Santa Claus in order to remain anonymous, crediting the spirit of giving rather than themselves.

Santa Claus does exist and he has legions of loyal followers just like him to prove it. I'm one of them.