New Hampshire state representative Wendy Thomas is married to a professional Santa Claus helper — and that means that, each December, she shares her husband with just about everyone.
Her husband, Marc Nozell, is known locally as “SantaMarkNH,” and together they have six children. While Nozell keeps his white beard and glasses all year long, Dec. 1 marks a seasonal switch: the red newsboy cap comes off, the Santa hat goes on, and Thomas becomes the one staying home. On Dec. 8, she shared what that looks like in an essay for The New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism.
For most of the year, Thomas and Nozell move through everyday life like any other couple — errands, park walks, travel. But once Thanksgiving passes, she says their rhythm changes. December, in her words, turns her into a “Santa widow.”
“While I get him to myself for eleven months of the year, December belongs to the children of our communities, the parents, the grandparents, the schools, the libraries, the town centers, the parades and the very devoted believers who make up his magical world,” she wrote. “The phone rings more often. Emails stack up. Events fill every open space on the calendar.”
As enchanting as it might sound to play a real-life Mrs. Claus, Thomas acknowledged there’s a lonely side to it. While other couples are snapping holiday photos, sipping cocoa, or attending tree lightings together, she’s often watching him head out the door in his red suit and “stomping coal-black boots,” rushing off to the next event. “We are rarely seen together in December,” she wrote.
Still, Thomas said she’s willing to give up that month because she sees the joy Nozell brings to the communities he visits. During the holiday season, she wrote, he “becomes the embodiment of magic, hope, nostalgia and kindness,” delighting children and leaving parents grateful, too.
And there are unexpected perks waiting back at home. Thomas said she ends up with plenty of “cookies, candy canes, handwritten notes, crayon drawings and tiny magical trinkets.” Her favorite, though, is the letters.
“Children write the most beautiful things when they believe they are writing to Santa,” she wrote. “They share their hopes, their fears, their wishes and sometimes their deepest struggles… my husband reads every single one.”
Over time, Thomas said those letters helped her understand that her husband isn’t merely performing a role. In her view, he’s safeguarding a kind of wonder that feels increasingly rare — “protecting magic in a world that desperately needs it,” and making room for imagination and belief. That perspective, she said, makes the quiet December nights easier.
Thomas also plays her own supporting role in the season: decorating the house, leaving a light on for Mr. Claus when he returns late, and listening as Nozell recounts what he’s comfortable sharing.
“And in those quiet, late-night conversations,” she wrote, “I feel deeply connected to the mission we share, even if I am not the one wearing the suit.”
