Santa is a senior too

Poor Santa. Every single year it’s the same thing: Harness up the reindeer. Supervise the elves loading the sled. Then fly around all night delivering gifts to children all over the world. Christmas Eve is tough work, and he is not as young as he used to be. Never mind the days and months leading up to the big day – it’s all simply exhausting.

After a hard night’s work, he returns to his home at the North Pole, where he immediately flops down on the couch with a bad case of heartburn. Too many cookies. Even the milk didn’t help. Mrs. Claus rolls her eyes and sends Rudolph off to the 24-hour pharmacy to get the antacid.  

You see, Santa is a senior too. He hasn’t retired, and it doesn’t look like he will anytime soon. He likely never had a defined benefit pension and needs the extra cash. He has elf and reindeer mouths to feed, after all.

One thing Santa doesn’t often mention is that each year he also receives letters from other seniors requesting a few little things.  

We think Santa is profoundly saddened by these letters. This is because seniors don’t often ask for gifts for themselves, or maybe only the basics like toiletries, batteries for hearing aids, reading glasses, bus tickets, and stationery or books. He knows that although Canada has made great strides in eliminating seniors’ poverty, too many of our older adults still live a low-income lifestyle, especially in major urban centres like Calgary, where costs of living are at an all-time high. 

He should know, for example, that almost 23 percent of Calgary seniors live on annual incomes of less than $23,000 per year. At the end of the month, there isn’t a whole lot left over for basics, and certainly not for gifts or something special like an outing. Forget about dreams of a special dinner out or a vacation somewhere warm. And after a lifetime of working hard, isn’t that just what we all want to do in our retirement?

There are also the socially isolated seniors to consider, who don’t often get out due to mobility issues. What they really want is for Santa to just drop by for a chat and a cup of tea.  

So, this Christmas season, we urge you to remember and reach out to the older people in your life, like Santa. While they have seen many Christmases, now each one is a gift itself.

And if Santa and Mrs. Claus ever do retire and find themselves a wee bit short of cash, they can be assured that Silvera will be there for them, just as we are for the 1,800 seniors who will spend Christmas at home with us this year.  

Join us in supporting seniors who call Silvera home by:

• Making a donation to our Silvera Cares Fund, which ensures residents have what they need when their finances can’t quite stretch to cover unexpected expenses. The fund also supports initiatives that celebrate our residents and promote positive mental well-being.


• Becoming a Friend of Silvera


• Giving the gift of your time