Dear Santa...

[SewNSewSister]

Dear Santa...I believe in you. Not because you bring me presents. Not because you sometimes make my wishes come true. Not because I want to gain anything more in life. Not because you are celebrated by so many in my Universe. And not because a wink of your eye signals that all things are possible if you believe.

For a very very long time I have looked forward to the season each year where I imagined you landing on my roof in the house I shared with my parents and 4 sisters and bouncing down our chimney with a bag full of toys for all us good little girls and boys. I always believed that Rudolph and the rest of your reindeer really could fly the night skies. And with every letter I wrote to you throughout the years I firmly believed that you read and respected each one.

Many years have passed since I stopped writing to you Santa and stopped leaving milk and cookies out for you to nibble on. But for the many decades I have lived there is still one main thing that I have never stopped doing. I still believe in you. I believe that you will always bring a smile to my face whenever I hear your name. I believe you will always make my mind wonder back to my early years when you read a letter from me and granted my requests for the Betsy Wetsy doll and other notable toys. And I believe you will do your best to bring smiles to all future good little boys and girls who believe in you too.

This year Santa...I ask not for myself. I ask for all mankind on our beautiful planet. Help us all to accept each other. Help us to find strength in dealing with this Pandemic. Help us to be a kinder, gentler person to each other. 

Dear Santa...I believe in you.

[BlueSpruceCrafts]

Wonderful message!  (And thanks for the sweet reminder of my Betsy Wetsy days!)

[calicoseas]

(Aww, good memories; he brought me a Betsy Wetsty doll, too. )

[collecteddust]

I wanted only one thing when I was about 4-5 years old. Back in those days WW2 was winding down and toys were very hard to come by. My wish was to have a Sparkle Plenty doll - Gee, does anybody out there remember her?  Yes, I am that old, lol :).

   Please - all of you take care and keep safe!

[SwissZahlerArt]

I am in the same wagon. Those horrible WWII days... a turmoil Christmas memory, the kids who wanted their father to come back and some never came back...

[vlmkpyae]

wonderful, mary. i have pinned this thread. hugs. 

[SewNSewSister]

Thanks so much Sil. These are heartfelt thoughts. My Blessings to one and all.

[ElizabethRosenArt]

Dear Mary, what a beautiful note!

Years ago when we lived on 43rd and 10th Ave., we were a short walk away from the huge PO across the street from Madison Square Garden. It was an annual trip to go there around the holidays where they gathered all the letters to Santa for anyone to go through. Don't know if they still do that! But always got misty reading letters from children to Santa. So earnest and often funny. We always picked a few, and mailed them whatever we could from their lists. It felt so good to actually be Santa for a few minutes, and brighten a kid's holiday. Good memories.

[SewNSewSister]

Now THAT's one sweet story Elizabeth. Another good memory shared. Thanks much girl. Blessings.

[collecteddust]

I love that story.  thank you for sharing it with us. What a nice thing for you and H to do. *. Many young couples would not have thought to do that ( bet I'm going to get in trouble for the last sentence. Oh well - Merry Christmas from Texas!   @ElizabethRosenArt 

[SewNSewSister]

I would love to hear from others about their good memories from early in their life. I think we all need the smiles this will generate during these trying times. Blessings all.

[vlmkpyae]

i loved the emporium window the way they decorated it every december. they had this model train that ran through a mountain to look a little like our streetcars going through the tunnel at west portal. they had rides up on the roof even in the evening and there was always music and food. this was the mid 60's to early 70's. san francisco was really nice in winter.

[SwissZahlerArt]

I got so, but sooooooo mad at Santa when I wrote him an XXL  letter -about 10 pages- asking for excessive things and did not receive a single thing I asked for. Not even a magic wand to obtain everything I wanted.

[SewNSewSister]

Swiss.  I'm assuming this happened when you were very young. Does that mean you stopped believing throughout your childhood? 

[SwissZahlerArt]

@SewNSewSister  Good morning:  Yes, I was six or seven years old. Honestly, I always doubted the fantasy world the adults tried to build.

[SewNSewSister]

@Former_Member. That's a bit sad girl. You must have been very mature in your thinking at a young age. I had 4 sisters and my parents never seemed to have enough money no matter how many jobs they worked and how diligent mom was with the spending of it. So as Christmas neared we children always pinned our hopes on Santa that the one special thing we wanted would show up under our little tree. And somehow most of those Christmases as children we really did get what we asked for. We 5 girls believed in Santa for a very long time.

P.S. Years later I learned from my mom that it was through the help of various charities and church that managed to help Santa grant our wishes.

[vlmkpyae]

mary, i love that.

[GielDesigns]

My brother and I were never taught to believe in Santa.  My mother made that decision when she a just a girl herself.  She said she was so devastated when she found out Santa didn't exist that it was years before she truly enjoyed Christmas again. She promised she would never do that to her children.  That said, I have wonderful memories of Christmas when I was young. We didn't have much money, but my parents and grandparents always found a way to make it a great time for us kids.

[vlmkpyae]

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e995454dc415ea6bbb6606e976ad50fceda932c6952c3f3c82618674aeaae1f...

i wanted to put this on a christmas thread. 1/3 of what's in that pic were gifts. rest were from etsy except elfred who was from ebay last decade. oldest thing is the bavarian wax head angel or the ginger dressed as a snowman. newest is the dry snow globe. really hard to photograph those! took 9 tries to get this pic! next i have to do the tree and the nativity. 

[vlmkpyae]

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9dca662d832bd9d141700cfaa95b9bb646ea46ec5c980fbd13efde9e3fa1541...

added the aussie felt critters to this one.

[collecteddust]

I have no remembrance of how I was told about believing in Santa. Evidently it was not very traumatic, cause I remained a strong believer for many long years. Hey, you've gotta love that old guy*****.

[BlueSpruceCrafts]

I remember that I recognized my mother's handwriting on the package that said it was from Santa, but I pretended to believe for another year after that because I thought it was a way to get an extra present!

[SwissZahlerArt]

The next year, a few days before Thanksgiving and Christmas in the way. We contemplate how was life this year. Also, wish Santa's reindeer do not get the virus.

[vlmkpyae]

i have refeatured this thread today.

[SewNSewSister]

Perfect timing Sill...thank you.