Rebecca Gardner says she still believes in Santa Claus because he came to her mother’s Christmas parties in Corpus Christi, Texas, for decades.
Turns out the guy with the real white beard was a man her mother had found slumped outside a local liquor store and paid to do the job. When Gardner’s family moved, he found them each December. She says, “He showed up every year at the same time for the rest of time.”
To Gardner, it was a Christmas miracle.
She says, “The best guests are unexpected.”
She says, “Every party should have a little bit of naughtiness.”
Gardner should know. As a child, she worked her mother’s soirees, taking coats. Knee-high to a grasshopper cocktail, she learned that “you can make anything happen with a party.”
Whether used for matchmaking or garnering a favor, a party is a tool. A party is power. She says, “Hosting is work.” She says she was so drawn to this idea, she wanted to grow up to be a senator’s wife. But Gardner stands behind no man. And she proves that behind every successful woman lies a spiral day
