Yes, there is a Santa Claus and he has taken the form of a ten year old girl.
The high school teacher that organizes the student volunteers for my school has worked hard this season collecting letters for the Macy's Believe Holiday Campaign. The son of someone she knows was recently treated to a Disney trip thanks to The Make A Wish Foundation and this is her way of helping. It's a wonderful thing!
Our day started by watching the Christmas show that the older kids at school were putting on. Such a nice way to start the day!
Then later the high school teacher came to visit and bring me some pictures to scrap for her. I handed her some more letters to Santa for the Macy's box and she shared the stories of some letters that the fifth grade students at my school had written.
There were the typical letters where the kids followed teacher directions and listed what they wanted for Christmas and why they believed they deserved the gifts.
There were other letters, written mostly by boys, that said they were only writing because their teacher was making them. They didn't believe in Santa, flying reindeer, the tooth fairy or Easter bunnies. (How sad for them!)
Then there was one letter written by a little girl saying that she had always gotten everything she asked for and so, this year, it would be OK to give her present to someone that never got anything. She talked about how she rides in the car with her mom and sees the homeless people on the street and wonders if they still believe in Santa Claus and how much she hopes they do.
I know Christmas is right around the corner, but I just wasn't feeling it until today. It took listening to children sing and hearing about a letter, written to Santa, by a 10 year old girl to remind me just how wonderful this time of year is.
