Signing Santa delivers Christmas surprise for deaf girl
Like most kids, Sadie Adam had a list of requests ready for her meeting with Santa Claus this week. But unlike most kids, the 6-year-old, who has been deaf most of her life, assumed her Christmas wishes would have to be translated by her mother.
However, when Sadie approached Santa at the Westminster, Mass., tree-lighting ceremony, she got a surprise much more exciting than the toy kitchen and baby she’d been pining after.
“Hello, Sadie, merry Christmas,” Santa said, using American Sign Language. Sadie was stunned.
“She literally stopped dead in her tracks, and she just stared at him,” Sadie’s mom, Ronelle Adam, told local news affiliate WCVB Boston.
Adam, whose older daughter, Taylor, is also deaf, contacted the Westminster Police Department when she learned about the tree-lighting, to find out who would be dressing up as Santa and whether they would be willing to learn a little bit of sign language. Westminster Police Chief Salvatore Albert, who has been playing Santa for 15 years, was happy to help out.
The two met at the police station, where Adam taught Albert a few key phrases ahead of the event. When the big day came, Santa was just as excited as Sadie.
“I felt like I was going to tear up also,” Albert said. “I was very happy that I made her day and I made her happy.”
It’s a day Sadie won’t soon forget. Her mother said she and her daughter were watching “The Grinch” the other night, when Sadie told her, “You know Santa knows my name, right?”
