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Christmas Is Acoming


jar

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I remember one very special Christmas. My daughter was in the first grade and when Christmas rolled around she told me in her very grown up BIG school voice that one of the kids in her class told her"Santa is not real, just made up and really it was mommy and daddy that brought the presents."

 

We were going away over Christmas, visiting relatives and so would not be home for the normal Christmas morning rituals. We still made the trips to the stores, she bought presents for her aunts and uncles and friends and cousins and for mommy but it was a secret and I had to promise not to tell. Then we had weeks of secret gatherings in the bedroom when daddy had to stay out or mommy had to stay out and the bright packages were carried in and placed beneath the tree and the lights reflected off the paper and danced across the ribbons.

 

As we got ready for the trip I had her gather the presents from under the tree and load them into the car. I made her go back and check to make sure we got everything, to make sure all the lights were out except for the hall light, check the other doors to make sure they were locked and gave her the keys to lock the front door. Off we drove to visit family in the mountains and maybe even see snow.

 

Christmas morning came and she rushed to see her presents, the "My Size Barbie" She had wanted ALL HER LIFE from Mom and Dad, some dress up clothes from her aunts, a glitter makeup kit Mommy would never let her have but that Daddy got for her and Cinderella's Glass slippers that Daddy said she was too young to wear but Mommy said made her look tall.

 

Finally there was nothing left under the tree but one envelope, addressed to her. In it was a letter from Santa Claus. He wrote that he did not know she was going to be away and had already left her present at her house under the tree. It would be there for her when she got home.

 

The next few days were amazing. A million questions about the letter and Santa and what it might be and how could Santa get in and ... where all I could say was "I don't know how, but I'm sure if he said it he will do it." The trip home seemed to take forever and when we pulled into the driveway, she rushed to peek in the window. There, around the tree, were three grownup bikes, a Blue one for Daddy, a Green one for Mommy and a bright red bike with no training wheels and hand brakes and a shifter and new helmets and knee pads and it was all there and "Where is the key Daddy? Hurry, hurry."

 

Kids grow a bunch between first and second grade and as the next Christmas rolled around, my much older now daughter plopped in my lap and asked "How did you do that last year?"

 

I explained how I had the neighbors put the bikes in after we left and that one of her aunts wrote the letter and asked her if she remembered how good it felt?

 

She did. And she hugged me.

 

Then she asked, "Am I old enough yet to be a Santa for some little kids?"

 

She was. And she did. And like every Santa before her she finally understood that it is not getting presents that is the real gift, but giving them.

 

My Website

 

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Beautiful story.

 

I once found some small tiny matches and a tiny pipe and tobacco left by one of Santa's elves. My dad said He heard our dogs barking last night but by the time he got to the living room there was nothing there but the gifts Santa left. I believed in Santa WAY longer then I should have because I had "proof" that Santa or at least his elves existed! I wish I still had that pipe I do not know what happened to it.

 

When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would say "Santa!" I still would take the job tomorrow if I could.

 

I feel lucky to have written and illustrated a Christmas book--I really want to be a part of people's christmas traditions. A friend of mine told me that she reads her kids the same christmas books every year--I hope my book can be a part of that magic that is Christmas.

www.stevelightart.com

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At the pen show in DC this year I had the good fortune to meet Steve Light at Richard Binder's table. There I got a brief and tantalizing look at Steve's new Christmas book for children (yes, all children from ages 3 to 103). Now I think the story he's just told here is deserving of another book!

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I still believe in Santa!!!! Thanks Jar and Steve - wonderful stories to brighten an Aussie Winter day! :cloud9:

Each day is the start of the rest of your life!

Make it count!!!

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Great story! I agree that the message of Christmas is that it is more blessed to give than to receive. :thumbup:

 

Reading your post has made me resolve to start searching for the perfect christmas card for this year's mailing marathon.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.pnghttp://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3937/paperzu3.png
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Thank you, Jar. A beautiful story, and one which I needed to "hear" today so that I could believe again.

Scribere est agere.

To write is to act.

___________________________

Danitrio Fellowship

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  • 1 year later...

A very nice and heartwarming story indeed. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year!

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png
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This story didn't just touch my heart, it smacked it with a 2 by 4 and laid it out flat for the count. It made me all mushy remembering how my "little goil" was around that age. She's now a grown-up woman with a heart of gold (and her middle name is "Gold"!) who loves to give to kids.

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Great story, thanks and a Merry Christmas to you and yours!

PAKMAN

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Loved that story. All my kids and grandkids are grown now, but that childrens' excitement at Christmas is priceless.

 

I have a rare privilege this Christmas. Kathy, the sister of my "Lovely Ms. Marie" will have her family in for the family Christmas gathering. I have been asked to be Santa for the children. Among the children present will likely be Kathy's four-year old great-granddaughter, Madison. On Thanksgiving week Madison was diagnosed with leukemia. I just hope that I can be cheerful and positive for her, and not choke and tear up. We all want her to enjoy the Christmas gathering.

“If you believe yourself unfortunate because you have loved and lost, perish the thought. One who has loved truly, can never lose entirely.” ~Napoleon Hill

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A story, explains Christmas and the magic of this season.

God is my Strength.

Brad http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/7260/postminipo0.pnghttp://img356.imageshack.us/img356/8703/letterminizk9.png

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OK So over Thanksgiving I mentioned the little pipe to my step mom and she said she had it in the Christmas decorations!! She FOUND IT!! The little matches and tobacco are gone but there was an elf mitten!! I did not remember the elf mitten at all. Here are the pics:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6478737867_1ef134551c.jpg

DSC03586 by stevlight, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6478738305_425e3aa846.jpg

DSC03587 by stevlight, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6478738721_bce4608bcf.jpg

DSC03588 by stevlight, on Flickr

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

www.stevelightart.com

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Oh my gosh, what a wonderful bit of ephemera

That is so cool that it is still in the family

Thanks for sharing this great detail.

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Merry Christmas, everyone. I remember when I was a child I was so happy to start wishing everyone a Merry Christmas right after Thanksgiving. It was glorious.


 It's for Yew!bastardchildlil.jpg

 

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  • 1 year later...

Wow -- what great stories.

Mine aren't nearly that exciting/interesting. Although I still have the "shelf elf" that a friend of my mom's gave me when I was around four (I don't really remember Carolyn all that much, because by then she was dying of cancer, but my mom talked about her all the time). Actually, I *might* have my brother's as well, in a box someplace (his was dressed in red, mine was green). But the one year I tried having a Christmas tree (2' artificial tree on a tabletop) and hung the elf on it, I kept finding it on the floor because our two old cats though it was a toy for *them* :glare: (also the brass colored apple ornaments I got with my Jo-Ann Fabrics employee discount because I liked them). So now I'm not sure where it is (that was in our old house from about 15 years ago -- but it's *definitely* safe from the little furballs!

I can't believe that those elves are now "popular" again (kind of like sock monkeys). And that there is (now) some totally appalling story about how they are Santa's spies.... Sorry, but for me they were just "the Christmas elves we were given by my mother's friend Carolyn". Sheesh.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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A few years ago, I let my hair grow out, and stopped shaving. I still have dark hair, but my beard came in white (actually a very light gray.) I was walking into a restaurant shortly before Christmas wearing my favorite red sweater. In another restaurant, sitting near the window was a nice looking young couple and their little boy. When he saw me, his face lit up. He thought he was seeing Santa. I smiled a bit and waved to him. I'm sure he was telling everyone he knew that he had seen Santa Claus. :D

The RavenLunatic


Semper insanit omnes tempore.


http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/5642/postcardde9.pnghttp://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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Thinking about Steve Light's pipe and mitten reminded me of our kids when they were 5 & 7 years old. They were at that point where they weren't sure about Santa's existence. I think they felt a little foolish believing, yet were afraid not to, just in case you know.

 

This particular Christmas was on one of those cold, grey, blustery days that just feels like winter. After the gifts were opened and things settled into the Christmas day routine, they went outside to play. They weren't gone long when they came tumbling back in as fast as they could, bumping into each other and both talking at once, faces lit up and almost out of breath.

 

After we got them to slow down a bit, we learned that on that Christmas morning, in our very own front yard, they found a piece of ribbon with sleigh bells attached. Both ribbon and bells had a number of years behind them. Now, you know where that ribbon came from, of course--Santa's sleigh or the harness on his reindeer! It had to have fallen off when he landed on our rooftop. I don't know that I've ever seen two kids who were more excited. I'm not sure two kids could be more excited without bursting open. To be holding in their very own hands a string of bells from Santa Claus himself was almost more than they could contain.

 

I think it set them back two years in their transition from believing in the jolly old elf to understanding the larger picture. To this day, I don't know where those bells came from.

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