Having received not one but two letters from Santa over the years, this most recent one really made me believe all over again and how appropriate to receive this now in my senior years, knowing goodness and cheer continue to reign supreme way up at the North Pole this time of year.

     Dear Little Friend of many decades,

        I call all the wonderful children whom I have had the pleasure of serving for hundreds of years “Little Friend” because when they come to me from infancy to adulthood, they have all been my “little friends.”

        How well I recall the many times I visited your house on Christmas Eve and the plate of cookies and that refreshing bottle of Coke you always left for me beside your fireplace. To say that I was often “well fed” on that particular night is an understatement and is partially responsible for my ample size nowadays! Ho Ho Ho!!!

Still in my memory is the year you asked for a Superman watch which I ran out of long before I arrived in your town.  I felt so bad in letting you down with that request but think I made up for it a year or so later when I brought your little dog, “Snoopy,” and left him hanging in a stocking on the back of the rocking chair in your living room. Sources told me how much joy that little pup brought you for many years.

I remember the shiny red bike I somehow managed to get in my bag and had it not been for three of my elves, (“Santa’s assistant’s” they like to be referred to now) who got it put together in just the nick of time and that delightful “Flexi-racer”you pleaded for in letters for a couple of years.  Again, my assistants were so helpful in putting that together while I had other gifts and happiness to spread out under your tree.  Oh, and please don’t forget that chemistry set or the big box of Lincoln Logs or the shiny, red case which housed the Erector Set which I understand you never had much success with in building that skyscraper you envisioned!

        Oh my, how times have changed in the intervening years and how the interest in my December 24^th visits have waned and then surged! Thanks now to the internet most of my letters reach the North Pole in email (toymaker@northpole.com) and are intercepted by Mrs. Claus who has proven over many years to be an able and most efficient secretary in keeping journals on who has been good, bad or indifferent (those children marked “indifferent” now only get a stocking filled with fruit and nuts  rather than the lumps of coal which used to be a sign I had been there!

My message to you this year is one of hope! Have no fear……Covid has NOT reached the North Pole and my doctors tell me I am immune to the virus along with Mrs. Claus and the Elves!  All this cold weather has somehow made us not susceptible for which we are most thankful which has allowed us to do our jobs and made it possible to be able to reach all my dear children as I make my rounds on Christmas Eve.  Rudolph continues to be strong and healthy and a great lead reindeer with his beacon “red” nose.

 This year, as kids continue to look up their chimney and try to figure out just how I can get in and out of their house so fast before putting on their pajamas and crawling under the covers, please remember all the other happy Christmas mornings after my visit and the joy which surrounds Christmas Day but don’t forget what is most important; the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the message he brings to all those who need his blessing and guidance especially this year.

As you well know, Christmas has always and will continue to be a time of happiness, joy and appreciation as long as we continue to believe. And like little Virginia O’Hanlon wrote the editor of the New York Sun way back in December 1897 asking him, “Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?”

        So many of my little friends, like you, are now older and from reading so much about me they have learned to bring happiness and joy to others as well in my name, making my life a lot easier!

        To show what lies before me in a matter of hours, I quote from a poem written by one of my little friends of long ago, who penned “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

        To you and all the others this Christmas 2020, I sign off with my trademark “Ho Ho Ho” and wishing each and every one a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

                                Santa Claus