SANTA

For the past 26 years in Missouri, there has been a secret Santa roaming the streets each December giving away money to people who would never have known him, except until last November.

Because last year, in November, that Secret Santa finally revealed himself, although in a time we wouldn’t have expected it. He announced that he was diagnosed with cancer last April.

Sadly, the inspirational story of this Secret Santa, this inspiration of a man.. has ended.. for last Friday, he passed away.

His real name was Larry Stewart, a Missouri Millionaire, who made his millions in cable television and long distance telephone service. He said that revealing his true identity was for one purpose, and that was to inspire others to do the same. He did train another Secret Santa, although as you may guess, we don’t know who…

Larry Stewart wasn’t always this rich. Because in his twenties, he was down on his luck, met adversity upon adversity, and gained the inspiration that would ultimately be his most important business in his life. How does one arrive at the realization that they want to become a Secret Santa? Perhaps maybe it was one event or a series of events…

it might have begun that day he approached a woman at a church and told her he was destitute. She told him the man who handled destitute people was gone for the day and suggested he come back tomorrow. Stewart says he never felt so low. He never did go back.

Or maybe it began that time he hadn’t eaten for two days and he went into a diner and ordered breakfast and then, when the bill came, pretended he’d lost his wallet. The owner of the diner came over. “You must have dropped this,” he said. And he put a 20 into Stewart’s hand.

Or maybe Larry Stewart became Santa Claus the day he was at a drive-through restaurant, feeling dispirited and low at having lost his job the week before Christmas. For the second year in a row. As he recently told The Associated Press, “It was cold and the car hop didn’t have on a very big jacket and I thought to myself, ‘I think I got it bad. She’s out there in the cold making nickels and dimes.’”

He handed her a twenty on a tab that couldn’t have been more than two or three bucks and told her to keep the change. The woman cried and told him he had no idea what his gift meant. “And man, I’m telling you what, it just ripped my heart right out. And I thought, ‘Wow.’ I had never had a feeling like that.”

RAMEN NOODLES

TOKYO - Momofuku Ando, the Japanese inventor of instant noodles — a dish that has sustained American college students for decades — died two Fridays ago (Jan 5) from a heart attack. He was 96.

Born in Taiwan, Ando founded his company in 1948 from a humble family operation. Faced with food shortages in post-World War II Japan, Ando thought a quality, convenient noodle product would help feed the masses.

In 1958, his “Chicken Ramen” — the first instant noodle — was introduced after many trials. Following its success, the company added other products, such as the “Cup Noodle” in 1971.

And one of Ando’s last meals? Chicken flavored Ramen Noodles of course.

SPIRIT OF GIVING

Whether or not, you know it at that time… The start of something great and inspirational can start with just a thought or even 20 bucks, but whatever it is, as long as you have others in mind, you are certainly destined to succeed. Often said, but rarely put in action, the saying “It is better to give than to receive” is often the starting point of success in life. Whether your aim is to feed your nation, or to help the poor and needy of our community - in life, you will often realize that putting other’s needs above your own is the true hallmark of humanity and love.

And in the end, your life will not be measured by the size of your bank account, but by your spiritual bank account alone.

Sources:
Secret Santa Dies
Story of The Secret Santa
Instant Noodle Inventor Dies