Love, Mom: Sailor to play Santa for shipmates
Darci Christofferson and her son Logan Johnson pose for a photo during one of his leaves from the U.S. Navy. Christofferson, who also served in the Navy, has shipped a dozen boxes of gifts to the aircraft carrier Johnson is on – with instructions that he give them to shipmates who won’t receive Christmas gifts. Submitted photo
Most sailors can identify their ship’s leaders by the stripes on their sleeves or the insignia on their shoulders.
On the USS Abraham Lincoln, one leader will be identified by the Santa hat on his head.
Logan Johnson is an AE2 on the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but he’ll take on an additional role this week.
The son of Darci Christofferson, of Ellendale, and the grandson of Scott and Gayle Kozelka, of Owatonna, Johnson is one of 5,500 crew members on the ship that was deployed to the Pacific in late November.
He’ll be carrying out a plan for his mom, herself a Navy veteran.
“Throughout the year, I collect Kohl’s Cash that people are not using,” Christofferson said. “They just hand it over, and I go and shop for stuff. I watch for the best sales and just try to be smart about it.”
This year, she bought fuzzy blankets, towels and washcloths, toothbrushes, deodorant, body wash, loofahs “and all that kind of stuff that they can use,” she said.
“They” are people like the shipmates Christofferson remembers from her eight years in the service.
“There were guys who … that was their way out of poverty,” she said. “Joining the Navy, you get your meals, and you get your paycheck and medical,” in addition to a place to live and an education, if they choose.
So when Johnson shipped out last month, Christofferson knew what he would see.
She took the donated Kohl’s Cash, “got all this stuff and put bows on it, and put (tags that say) ‘From Santa,’ and I ended up sending 12 boxes” to the floating city making its way through the Indian Ocean.
Christofferson messaged her son to tell him about 10 boxes would be arriving for him, “and he was like, ‘Mom, where I am going to put 10 boxes?’ And I said, ‘no, no, no. I have them labeled, Box 1, Box 2, Box 3… Once you get Box 1, open that first. It has all the instructions in it.’”
The instructions include wearing the Santa hat she sent in that box, so he could hand out gifts.
The average daily temperature as they likely head to the Persian Gulf is about 85 degrees.
“It’s so hot,” Christofferson said, “and he’s like, ‘Mom, it does not feel like Christmas.’
“I told him, ‘I want you to put the Santa hat on, and I want you to walk around and just give stuff out. You don’t have to save it until Christmas.’ I want to make sure his friends are taken care of,” she said.
Christofferson also enclosed a letter to her son.
“I said, ‘I really want you to think about how much kindness matters, and I want you to look for those people that are not going to get anything for Christmas,’” she said, reminding Johnson that “not everybody comes from the family that you come from.
“You will not understand how giving something like a blanket or a new towel will affect that person, but when you don’t have a lot of kindness in your life, that’s the kind of thing that matters to that person – and they will always remember it,” Christofferson said.
Her letter continued: “If you can try to be that person this Christmas, I would be really, really proud of you.”
Still, she said, “I know it’s hard, you know? He’s a kid, and wants to be the cool guy, but God knows, I sent enough stuff…”
Christofferson didn’t finish the sentence, but the mom-message was clear: Johnson would have to distribute the items, if only for practicality.
Included among the other items headed his way are three big tins of cookies; she estimates she baked about 1,500 cookies, made multiple batches of fudge, applesauce, jelly, soups and freezer dinners.
While the sailors will receive cookies and fudge, the meals, jellies, apple pie filling and more will go to friends and family in Christmas baskets.
It may not surprise you to know Christofferson’s “real” job is as a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Rochester.
Her mission with the overseas gifts was part parent, part patriot.
“I love knowing that maybe I’m making a tiny difference in someone’s life,” Christofferson said, “and I love knowing that the sailors who are out there, working for our freedom, aren’t forgotten.”