Santa Uses American Sign Language to Spread Holiday Cheer: ‘I Never Had the Opportunity’

Update on Sept. 23, 2024: Charles Graves has been hospitalized for several months with acute pancreatitis. Those wishing to help him via GoFundMe can donate here.

Growing up, Charles Graves “never had the opportunity to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas,” he says.

Graves, 53, is deaf, and tells PEOPLE that his family didn’t sign when he was a child (not an uncommon situation, according to the National Association of the Deaf).

“My Christmas memories consist of watching my siblings chat with Santa Claus while all I got was a thumbs up and a pat on the back,” he recalls. “That reality is true for children all over the world.”

To help solve that problem, Graves and his wife Kari, 47, who is also deaf, now travel the U.S. as Santa and Mrs. Claus to spread holiday cheer to children, signing in American Sign Language.

“Each child deserves to see a Santa Claus that they can understand and relate to,” says Graves.

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Gaylord National Resort near Washington, D.C., is one of Graves’ stops each year, in addition to a handful of other Gaylord resorts and some spots in his home state of Texas. “We are grateful there’s enough acceptance out there to outweigh the ‘nos,’ ” he says of booking jobs each season.

Like many of his colleagues, Graves — who is also an educator at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin — attended “Santa School,” and says he’s busy thinking about Christmas “when nobody else is” ahead of each holiday season.

However, “at the very end of the day, when I sit with the children and connect with them, that’s why I do this,” he says.

It’s particularly meaningful to do it alongside his wife, he adds. “I could never be Santa Claus without my Mrs. Claus,” he says.

While he enjoys “every interaction” he has with the kids he meets, Graves says he loves to see parents react when he clicks with their children.

“When I see the joy on parents’ faces surpass the awe in the children’s eyes,” he says, “I know we’re etching a core memory.”

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