Everyone deserves an Uncle Ralph

Before I get into the nitty-gritty details of the wonderful world of Santa Claus, I thought a few words about my Great-Uncle Ralph would be in order, since he is the creator and the inspiration of these stories.
As I mentioned before, he was born in 1905 in Jasper, Mo., the baby of eight children born to George and Clara Masters. He married once, but that lasted just about a year. His sister, Ethel - whom we called Sister Bob because her brother could not say Ethel so he renamed her Sister Bob - took him under her wing. They lived for a while in Los Angeles and my father spent a year with them before being drafted into the Army in 1944.
They eventually settled in Joplin living in the Royal Heights area. He was a traveling salesman for the American Tank company, which manufactured water towers for cities and counties. He and my aunt took care of each other. Sister Bob retired as a principal from Jefferson Elementary School in Joplin, which at that time, she was the last woman principal in the Joplin School District. Ralph always thought it was his duty to take care of his sister since she guided and directed him during his "floundering" years.
Not having children of their own, he were overjoyed when their nephew, Bill (my father), married and had three children - John, Buzz and Cheryl. They took us under their wings and became the loving grandparents we never had. Family gatherings were always held at their house where we often had as many as 30 for holiday gatherings. It was a time of celebration and joy. It was basically heaven on earth for a little 5-year-old boy.
My Uncle Ralph became larger than life. I revered him, I idolized him and loved him. In my eyes, he basically could do no wrong. Oh, I know now that he had some misgivings in his life and I am so glad I didn't know about them then. But even now, those misgivings don't taint the Uncle Ralph that I knew and loved.
Saturday nights were reserved for Uncle Ralph and Sister Bob. They often came over to Neosho and spent as much time with us as possible. We played games, ate dinner and went to get ice cream. But most of all, we heard stories. Stories of his childhood, stories of his travels across the country and stories of Santa Claus and the North Pole. It didn't have to be winter to hear those wonderful and inventive stories. We were always anxious and ready to hear his collaborations of Santa Claus, the North Pole, the reindeer, the elves, and of course, our very favorite, the Lollypazink. But more about him later.
About a year before he died in 1971, I wrote an essay about my beloved uncle for an English class taught by Gary Sims. I remembered reading it to Uncle Ralph and seeing tears well up in his eyes when I read the final sentence: "Everyone deserves an Uncle Ralph."
I believed that then and I believe that now. I just hope and pray that I have just a little bit of Uncle Ralph in me for my two future grandsons - Adian Ryan and Noah Parker.