Tripp: The Man in the Red Suit
By Barb Zanetti
(Photos by Dennis Zanetti)
Alamo Rec-Veh Park
He has been a bride. A pirate. A clown. But this Winter Texan really shines in a red suit with 1,000’s of children on his lap.
It does not matter that sometimes he is in a foreign country. Nor does it matter that he is sitting in the scorching sun for hours in a heavy, authentic Santa suit.
What does matter is that Tripp Wright is afraid.
It is not concern that his weighty suit could cause him to pass out. Nor that later tonight and tomorrow will be excruciatingly painful…nor that after his terminal cancer diagnosis he has been ordered to relax at home with his feet up to combat the grueling side effects of his chemo treatments.
None of that matters when he puts on his red suit.
What matters to him on this day is that although over 2,000 children have already sat on his lap in Nuevo Progreso’s oversized outdoor chair…while over 1,000 children still wait in the hot sun to pose with the jolly man, to visit the Santa whose infectious “Ho, Ho, Ho” brings a smile to so many.
It is a common language…understood by all children. With those few words, they recognize The Man who cares about them. It does not matter that he does not speak their native language.
They do not know his secret either…They do not know that “The Man in The Red Suit” is sacrificing much pain for their smiles.
They do not see him wince once or twice when they are not looking. Mrs. Clause, his real-life wife, wipes his forehead and Martha Morin, the couple’s helper (who is also an RN, like his wife) puts cold compresses on the back of the Jolly Ole Soul’s neck.
The three of them pray he will be back on the same chair next December.
He knows the brain tumor in his spinal cord could be the end of his laughter. Even the MD Anderson cancer specialists wonder how he can tolerate the intense pressure from the pepper-sized growth that is pushing his spinal cord apart.
And he crosses his fingers that the chemo he is taking will slow the tumor, knowing the bones in his back will never recede, never go back into place. It is a lasting pain…until there is not anymore.
For this season, donning the red suit means everything.
Due to Covid-19 the children in Nuevo Progreso and this Santa will not be together this year. Instead, he will ride the fire engine in downtown Alamo’s Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 12. Participants will line-up at HEB at 5:30 p.m. with the parade starting around 6:15 p.m.
This holiday will not be quite the same for Tripp.
But this year some lucky children will hear his jolly laughter. And they are sure to break into big smiles when they spot The Kindly Man sitting in the fire engine.
For many, he will be the genuine Face of Christmas.
