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 a 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.
Now, that’s the truth.
