True Story of Rudolph
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
Bobs 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 everybody 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'd 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 now
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
But if he couldn't buy a gift,
he was determined a make one - a storybook!
Bob had created an animal 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
But 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
But 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 on returning back
to bless him again and again
And Bob 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.
* MERRY CHRISTMAS *
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