Dear Santa Claus

I hope this letter finds you in good health and excited about your upcoming travels later this month. We both know it has been more than half a century since I’ve written to you. Even so, I want to say a long overdue thank you. Because, in spite of my not asking you for anything specific for Christmas in all that time, you have done amazingly well by me, and I am truly grateful.

Some of my fondest memories of Christmas Eves past are of helping Mom carefully prepare plates of cookies and milk for your arrival, and watching my dad bundle up to go out to the corral to put hay out for Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. What a thrill it was to see only crumbs left on the plate and a few scattered blades of hay left on the ground on Christmas morning!

My brother, Tom, assures me that he has continued to put that hay out every year at his place. If that is not the case, please leave me a note this year, and I promise to have a talk with him.

I don’t need to tell you, Santa, it’s been a tough year. In the work I do with our local food bank, I see record numbers of people in distribution lines, many of whom would never have imagined finding themselves there. As Christmas approaches, I can only imagine the worry and sadness in their hearts and minds as they look into the faces of their children, parents, friends and loved ones for whom they want to be able to do so much more, but can’t.

But it has also been a beautiful year. I have seen private citizens, nonprofit groups, local businesses and corporations respond with amazing generosity and compassion that truly puts the Human in Humanity.

I know I don’t even need to mention COVID-19 to you, Santa. If it is in your power to put a dose of vaccine in every stocking, or to somehow miraculously eradicate this virus, you will do that without me asking. But for the millions and millions who have lost loved ones, or are still battling the symptoms and impacts of this illness, I will ask you to please do what you can to ease their grief and suffering, even for just one day.

We’re all tired, Santa. Tired in ways we can’t articulate or sometimes even recognize as we keep putting one foot in front of the other and endeavor to be and do our best. So, as wonderful as new sleds, video games, puppies, and warm sweaters are to unwrap and reveal, I think a lot of us would be very happy with a renewed sense of wonder and hope.

You are the Wonder Man, Santa. If anyone can pull this off, it’s you. You can bet there will be a plate of cookies and milk at our house just for you. And I’ll make a trip to the feed store for some cake to put out in the side yard for Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.

As for me, if you could just give a special jingle by my window when you stop through, I will have everything I could want. Thank you, Santa, from the bottom of my heart. It’s been a long time, and it’s very nice to reconnect. Safe travels. Watch out for those swarms of Murder Hornets.

Love,

Penny

* * *

If you'd like to be notified by email when new articles are posted, please submit your email address in the "Follow by Email" field in the upper right section of the blog page. Thanks!