""We call them 'Amusement Influencers' now," the man explained. "They cobble and post on Instagram." "And the reindeer?" "Well, Blitzen left our crew to go into Bitcoin. And Rudolph's red nose?" "Yes?" "Glows with a Waze guidance system now, so's I don't go down any wrong chimneys. Things change. Like your daughters," he told me. "I see they're grown. Can't just put dolls under the tree anymore. But I get reports. They're both smart, funny and kind.""
""I know what you mean," said the man in the red suit. "I've been around a while, too. What I tell myself is that every time we have to say goodbye to someone, we take a little of them along with us. They ride along in our hearts. We miss them. But stories and memories still put sparkle into our lives."
A late-night kitchen encounter finds a large man in a red suit at the refrigerator asking for leftover pad thai. He describes elves as 'Amusement Influencers' who post on Instagram and notes a reindeer left for Bitcoin while Rudolph's nose now glows with a Waze guidance system. He observes the narrator's grown daughters and reports they are smart, funny and kind. The narrator reveals having lost friends and loved ones. The red-suited man explains that goodbyes carry pieces of those people in the heart and that stories and memories keep them sparkling in life.
Read at www.npr.org
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