Santa's Replies

I finally feel like I am back in the land of living. Still not 100% but out of the chemo fog.

I thought I would share the letters Kady and Leah received from Santa this year. Each year (for the past four or five) we have emailed the same website and within a few days there is always an individual reply.

The site is http://www.thereindeerbarn.com

It used to be http://www.dm.net/~santa/

These letters made me laugh and cry. I didn't see what they wrote (except Leah's wish list of toys). Obviously Kady wrote a few things for Santa to worry about. I was surprised Kady still wanted to email Santa this year. lol

Kady's Letter

Dear Kady,

I must admit I got a good chuckle out of your Christmas wish list. Clothes, shoes, CDs, DVDs... all of these things make perfect sense. In fact, I’ve already chatted with Twinkletoes, my elf stylist, and Flittergleam, who’s in charge of media, and they’ve both said they’re checking their departments to see if they can find something just right for you. But Kady... an ear piercing? Blonde streaks? I may be magical, but even I have never figured out how to pierce a child’s ear and dye her hair while she sleeps on Christmas Eve! As much as I would like to grant your wish, I’m afraid this is one gift for which you are going to have to ask your mum.

There are a lot of changes going on in your life right now, aren’t there, Kady? Graduation and high school and a boyfriend and your mum’s sickness... that would be a lot for anyone to think about. Well, to start, I don’t want you to worry a whit about high school. You’re right that high school brings a lot of changes, but I believe you can handle them all with no trouble. The day you start high school, I want you to march right in the front door with your shoulders back and your head held high. Just as Mrs. Claus and I have always told the elves, if you ACT confident, everyone will BELIEVE you’re confident, and they will treat you accordingly.

The same might be said for your graduation speech. A very, very, VERY long time ago, public speaking used to make me nervous, too! It gets easier with practice (in fact, now, after hundreds of years, I actually ENJOY it), but as you don’t have several hundred years to practice between now and December 20th...

I’ll tell you what: between now and Wednesday, I want you to practice and prepare as much as you possibly can. In the meantime, I’m dispatching an Emergency Elf just for you. Her name is Gigglebreeze, and her special job is to go around the world, helping out kids who need a hand. She can’t actually come up and introduce herself, of course — there’s the Elf Code of Secrecy to think about — and she’ll have to be in disguise. (Just imagine what your teachers might do if they saw an elf, complete with curly shoes and pointed ears, show up at your graduation dinner!) But when you give your speech, she’ll be in the audience, smiling at you. If you look around, I bet you’ll even see her. I hope knowing you have a fan from the North Pole will help you feel a bit calmer!

Kady, I know that your mum’s sickness has been very hard for the whole family. Sometimes it can be extra hard for you as the big sister, because it becomes your job to help out if your mum needs help or to try to help Leah not be worried. I’ve been very proud of you so far, and please tell your mum that all of us up at the North Pole send our best wishes.

I hope you have a very merry Christmas, Kady. Keep being a good girl. Work hard in your last days of school!

Love,

Santa

P.S. I’m not sure I remember receiving a letter this year from Zack. Sometimes talking can make a person feel better when they’re “on the down side.” Sometimes a person needs to talk to a counselor, but sometimes a friend (like me!) will do. I’d love to hear from Zack, if he thinks it would help.




Leah's Letter

Dear Leah,

Thank you so much for your letter. It’s very nice to hear from you! Mrs. Claus and the reindeer and I are very well, thank you. Mrs. Claus is very busy making extra meals and snacks for the elves (as they are working very, very hard right now and have big appetites!) The reindeer have been stretching and exercising in preparation for their big night Christmas Eve. Last night, all the reindeer raced to the moon and back. Vixen won, but only because Dasher tripped over the Big Dipper!

I forwarded a copy of your letter to Mother Nature, as your request for snow falls into her department. She tells me that many children in Australia have asked for snow on Christmas Day. She would love to oblige but says Jack Frost is quite stubborn about the subject. He has always spent November through March in the northern hemisphere and May through September in the southern hemisphere, and as a creature of habit, he’s unwilling to make a change. (April and October are, of course, Mr. Frost’s vacation months. I’m told he generally spends the time on either Neptune or Pluto.)

You know, Leah, I think you might be the first child this Christmas season who’s asked me how many elves there are; it’s not a very common question. Good for you for being creative! Now, I wish that I could tell you the exact number, but they move around so fast that I’ve never been able to get a count. I know all of their names, of course, and I even sat down once in July (when things aren’t very busy around here) to make a list. I started with the “A” names (Ablestar, Acorndew, Applekiss, Archsmile . . .), but somehow, I never got to the end.

I gave your Christmas list to an elf called Dazzlesheen, who reports back that things look promising. I don’t know if there’s room for EVERYTHING you asked for in my sleigh, but I’ll try my best.

Oh — before we go any further, I need to ask you a question. Would you please have a talk with Kasey? I have such a difficult time with cats on Christmas Eve; they tend to wake up when I’m visiting their homes, and they either think I’m an intruder and scratch at my legs or they leap up on my shoulder and bat at my hat. If you could explain to Kasey who I am sometime between now and Christmas Eve and make sure to mention I’ll be coming by, it will make my Christmas Eve visit SO much easier.

Leah, please pass on to your mum that all of us up at the North Pole are thinking of her. I know her breast cancer is very difficult for everyone in your family, and I’m proud of you for trying hard to be a good girl during this time. I hope very much that she’ll be well soon. Would you please give her a hug for me?

Keep being a good girl. Listen to Miss Carmody and your other grown-ups!

Love,

Santa

P.S. It is, indeed, snowing here, but then, it’s almost always snowing at the North Pole. I’ve just gone out to catch a few flakes on black paper, and would you believe I found a snowflake that’s shaped just like Rudolph?