Most children are excited about seeing Santa Claus during the Christmas season, while others become overwhelmed with happiness seeing “The Elf on the Shelf.” For two-year-old Emilia Wadgymar, the real stars of the season are the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus.
Emilia’s mother, Tamara Wadgymar of Woodlands, Texas, told Fox News Digital, “We went to a place where a Christmas village train was set up. They changed the nativity this year to be really big. Emilia didn’t even notice the Santa train. She started yelling, ‘Mary! Mary!’ and I started recording.'” The sweet video of Emilia greeting the figures depicted in the nativity was posted on Wadgymar’s Instagram, where it’s been “liked” more than 300,000 times and viewed by millions of people.
In the video, Emilia Wadgymar, who is bilingual, says, “Mary! Mary! Hello, Virgin Mary. Hello, baby. Hello, Virgin Mary.” She kisses the cardboard cutout of Baby Jesus and then says, “I’m going to give her [Mary] a hug.” The little girl poses for photos with the cutout of Mary and says, “Cheese! Now, with the baby.” Then, she fixes the baby’s diaper and says, “It fell, but I got it.”
The toddler’s love of Mary and Jesus started at home, where a small nativity scene is placed for her to play with and observe. But the core of her enthusiasm and adoration, her mom said, comes from the daily prayer and discussions about Mary and Jesus among the family. Wadgymar said her four-year-old son Bernardo is battling Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a “rare, cancer-like condition,” according to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
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Emilia’s big brother is currently receiving chemotherapy at Texas Children’s Hospital. The family left their home in Mexico for Woodlands, Texas, and also lived in Florida for a time during Bernardo’s treatment. It’s his fourth treatment, according to Wadgymar, and he has also developed diabetes insipidus. However, instead of focusing on the struggle her family is now facing, Wadgymar said the general outlook on life is all about gratitude.
At one time, the family “struggled a lot.” Wadgymar said, “We were living in Airbnbs. At one point, we lost my husband’s insurance. But we thank God for having a house now and for the clinical trial Bernardo was a part of and his treatment. We talk about God’s love for us.” It’s that love that appears to resonate with little Emilia and the nativity.
Her mother said, “I told her, ‘God gave us Jesus because He loves us.’ And I explained how exciting it was for Mary to be having a baby and how that baby is now born into our hearts each Christmas. Kids really do understand almost anything if you explain it on their level.” Wadgymar’s video of little Emilia greeting Mother Mary and Baby Jesus has garnered some 5.3 million views on Instagram.