Santa makes early appearance for one Cannon family Published Dec. 15, 2009 By Greg Allen 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but here at the 27th Special Operations Wing he is not the jolly fat man dressed in red. All one shopper at the BX knows is that someone who retired from the military made her family holidays a lot brighter. Charlotte Riojas was patiently waiting at the BX checkout line with a cartful of presents for her children. Their move from Hurlburt Field in Florida had, like virtually everybody else who makes a permanent change of station, been stressful. She, her husband, Tech. Sgt. Robert Riojas, assigned to the 27th Special Operation Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and their children lived in base housing. The problem was their home in Florida was still on the market, which meant out of pocket expenses for the mortgage. This Christmas was going to be extremely tight for them. "I let the person in back of me go ahead, because he only had one item," said Mrs. Riojas, recalling the event. "I noticed a second gentleman had only two items, so I asked him if he, too, wanted to go in front of me. He said no." As the clerk scanned her items, the stranger and Mrs. Riojas engaged in shopping banter, the chit chat between two people listening to the beeping sound of the scanner. He asked her if she was Christmas shopping, and she said yes, but the list for her children just seemed to get longer. "I told him I was paying with my credit card, because my kids wouldn't have much of a Christmas without it," she said. As she prepared to swipe her card, the gentleman told the cashier that he was going to pay for it. "I said 'No, sir,' you can't do that, but he said to me that he understands how things are," said Mrs. Riojas. "I was so touched that I burst into tears in the BX in front of everybody." He paid the bill of $109 and told her that he did that for somebody once a year. She said she was so taken aback that all she could ask was if she could hug him. He smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. "I've been married for 11 years and we never had to worry about money before now, so that's why this is such a wonderful deed," said Mrs. Riojas. "He didn't know me at all, but he was so kind to buy my Christmas presents." Mrs. Riojas relayed this story via e-mail to the 27th SOW Public Affairs writing, "I just wanted to send a public thank you to this man." "I think this man's actions speak greatly about the kind of people we have at Cannon," said Tech. Sgt. Riojas, after hearing about the generous gift. Merry Christmas, Secret Santa, it's good to know you put an early visit to Cannon on your schedule.