Santa's Letter of the Week

As we read through the stacks and stacks of mail that come in throughout the year, every once in a while, one letter stands out from the rest. A letter that someone put their heart and soul into, or a letter that really touched a special place in our heart's. And as such we felt you too, might enjoy reading the letters that we receive.

Santa

This Week's Letter:

Hi Santa!

My name is Shannon and I live in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. I’m 13 years old. I know that most people my age don’t believe in Santa Claus, and I don’t know why! I totally believe in you! I wish I could convince all my friends that you’re real! Even my little 8 year old brother Jordan is starting to be an un-believer! Can you please tell me what I can do to convince them you’re real? Thanks. I was also wondering what you think of where I live, Vancouver B.C. What’s your very favorite part of the whole world and why? I’m in grade 9, I play the piano, I play tennis, and I dance. I’ve been very good this year, in my oppinion. My favorite time of year is Christmas. You just don’t know how much I love it!!!! I look forward to it so much! And not because of the presents, but because it always feels so happy! I love going to the mall and seeing all these christmas decorations, and I love getting the Christmas tree and decorating it, and putting the Christmas lights on my house with my dad, and listening to Christmas music.... I could go on, but I know how busy you are, so I’ll stop. I feel very bad for people that aren’t as lucky as I am and don’t have family and friends to celebrate with. I wish I could help them more than just donating my clothes and some canned food. Could you tell me what I could do to really make their Christmas happy? Thank-you. Well, all I want for Christmas is a dog. That’s what I ask you for every year, but you keep saying "I don’t know if I can do that...". Why can’t you Santa? I don’t expect you to spend a lot of money on it, infact I’d be perfectly happy if you got it for free from the SPCA! I don’t care where you get it. But, if, again, you can’t get it, I’ll understand.

Well, I think I’ve taken up more than too much of your time, so I’ll say bye now. Thank-you very much for being so kind to everyone and for everything you have done.

Love Shannon

 

Memories

by Sheryl Andre
sandre@ames.net

What is the spirit behind Christmas, that warm, happy glow that we wish would stay around forever? It doesn’t happen automatically. It is helped along by traditions, by memories and by love. When a child is young and impressionable he or she sees this magnificent tree covered with multicolored lights and sparkling tinsel and hears the joyful songs and a new cycle of memories has begun. Somewhere, during the early years, a strong sense of family and tradition needs to be added to counterbalance the glitz and appeal of all those toys that appear in ads everywhere in a mounting frenzy until the holiday arrives.

"Pretty!" thinks the 6 month old Tony, as he looks up at the huge tree glistening and covered fancy balls. He might sit in a brand new sled purchased by his parents, but he’s too young to understand its use, nor does he realize that they could barely afford such a luxury. They think they bought it for him, but really they are following their own memories. They want to return to a time when such innocence existed. They want to give their child the memories they cherish. But is that memory centered on buying gifts or something more?

***

"Wow! What a big tree!" says the 2 year old Dana as she reaches for the fancy decorations hanging just out of reach. She is old enough to enjoy the gift opening and clap her little hands to the happy music, but when all is said and done, she will prefer to play with the boxes and papers as mom and dad explain about Santa and relive their own childhood's.

***

"When do I need to start being good?" asks 4 year old Peter in October when all the advertisements begin to appear.

"Can we put up the tree yet? When is Santa coming? Can I write my letter now?" he asks as his parents smile at his enthusiasm. In preschool he might create a card for his parents that they will save long after the season is gone. He will forget that wonderful gift unless reminded.

After he opens all his presents and the holiday is over, Peter takes about a week to tire of his new toys (especially that expensive *toy of the year* that mom looked so hard to find).

"My XYZ-car is broken mom!" is a common complaint.

Meanwhile mom and dad need a weeks vacation to recover from all the shopping, cooking and partying and months to recover from the bills. This is not the way they remembered it.

***

"I don’t need to see Santa this year." says the wise 8 year old Jane when she hands mom her Christmas list.

"Can I have some money to get you something?" she asks. She is not interested in family gatherings or caroling. After the holiday, her friend Gail’s presents seem more interesting.

***

"Do I have to stay home for the family dinner?" asks 12 year old Robert who would much rather be outside playing with his new skateboard and his friends.

***

The children above are missing something important. It may be that they have to be more mature before they understand or it may be that their parents place too much emphasis on gifts. Christmas isn’t just about gifts and Santa. Its also about family and traditions, giving and loving. The parents above are working too hard at providing the gifts and not hard enough at finding memories for their children to gather to them all their lives.

When I look back at my own childhood, I don’t remember the gifts at all. I remember the decorating, the sweet smelling pine tree and the family time together. I even remember the arguments about whether the tree was tilting or how straight the tinsel was hung ("One strand at a time!"). We played Christmas songs and visited grandparents. At the time I know I muttered about having to do all this, but now I understand.

There is a different side to the holidays when traditions are not important. Lets look at some different ghosts of Christmas past.

"Sigh. My children can’t come back for the holidays this year. It will be a lonely time. Especially hard because of all the advertising and celebrating around me."

These thoughts from Grandma Jones as she looks around the empty house. Wouldn’t a visit by some friends or a few carolers lighten her holiday? Do her children know how lonely she is without anyone? Maybe they could send her a ticket to come visit and bring some old traditions to their new home. If she has to stay home, she could invite another lonely soul and they could create some new traditions together.

***

"Its so hard to shop for presents. " says a disabled woman who cannot deal with all the crowds in the stores. Some stores offer special seniors and handicapped-only times to make shopping easier. A friend might stop by offering to help with a few presents or an invitation to drive around town looking at the light displays.

***

"I just can’t celebrate this year." says Fran who has just lost her husband. A close friend talks her into coming over for Christmas dinner.

These people can be given special gifts of love. People who give those gifts are the ones who remember the traditions of when they were young, not the people who were only interested in toys. Some gifts are more precious than any money can buy.

Those are the gifts from the heart that offer love, caring and memories.

Here are a few other ideas for holiday traditions.

Who gets to hang the oldest, prettiest ornaments might rotate each year or reading "The Night Before Christmas" together, with everyone reading a different page, could become a regular event. Christmas Carols and visits are important too.

Another fun thing to do is to each draw and write up cards that say some nice things about the recipients. Little ones will really enjoy this, but adults can write some beautiful cards too. Though these cards might not be as pretty or as poetically correct as the store-bought ones, they will be treasured much longer.

If you live in a warm climate, you might consider creating a "Frosty" using some old cardboard boxes and white spray paint. It doesn’t need to be expensive to be memorable.

These are the things that will be remembered later with fondness, not who got what toy.

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