A Hobo's Christmas (1987) on Netflix

Plot summary

More than two decades ago Chance Grovner walked out on his family, and he has ridden the rails ever since, mailing the occasional postcard home. At Christmas he comes to Salt Lake City, where his grown son Charlie lives. Charlie works as a police officer, lost his wife, and is raising Kathy and Bobby on his own; his girlfriend, the nurse Laurie, is weighing a job offer in San Francisco. Charlie has not forgiven his father, and the visit buys Chance a single day with the two grandchildren he has not met, after which he is expected to go. The hobo friends Chance travels with warn that a man like him should never go home, but he wants to see his son.