Whittling Away: My annual letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

How are you? It’s me again, for what — the 70th time or so. How is the missus, all the boys in the shop and the reindeer? I hope this letter finds all in good health and good humor.

It’s been a busy year since I last wrote to you. Our family has been blessed for the most part with good health or is at least on the road to recovery, anyway, compared with others we know, we have nothing to complain about.

Our Princess continues to grow in strength and beauty. My Queen rules our domain in her usual cheerful, benevolent manner, so all is well in our little world. The boys move further into manhood and still haven’t become a burden to society, and our granddaughter is still the brightest star shining in Texas. Please pass along my heartfelt thanks to The Big Guy the next time you see him, and thank you for any part you may have played in this matter.

This is the part on the letter where I used to list what I wanted for Christmas. You know, the important stuff! The older I get, the shorter my list gets as I continue to realize how much I have and how little I really need. I’m not going to continue to ask for that pony because I realize now who’s going to be the clean-up crew. I now know that no matter how hard you try, that Corvette I always have asked for isn’t going to fit in my stocking in spite of the ample size of my tootsies. I guess on a personal level, I’d like things to continue moving smoothly down life’s sometime-not-smooth road. Keep us under your wing and traveling towards good health. That’s about it for us. Short list!

Maybe now that my list is two or three pages shorter, you may have a few extra moments to spare.

Could you maybe concentrate on some of the folks around who could use a little extra help? There’s a lot of people worried about loved ones in harm’s way overseas; could you spend a little time helping smooth that mess out so they can come home? There are a whole bunch of hungry folks out there who could use a helping hand too; some of them don’t live too far away either, so maybe it wouldn’t be a whole lot of extra work to make sure the little ones don’t go to bed hungry. There are people who are going to be alone for the holidays; it really wouldn’t take much time for a quick visit and would mean so much. Some of them haven’t talked to you for a great many years and it would do them good.

If you don’t have time for a lot of visits, maybe you could lift the fogs that sometimes cloud their past, even just for Christmas Eve, and let them warm their souls with the memories of Christmas Past. It would mean so much. I’m hopeful that you’re annual visit will spread a little happiness and love around. Our country could use all it can get. It might help end some of the unhappiness and anger that’s so prevalent. If it’s not asking too much, could you spread some old-fashioned politeness around. There’s way too much rudeness and anger in our country.

Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time. I do so enjoy our yearly visit and I do try my best to keep you in my heart all year-round, but then, you know that. Thank you so much, my old friend, and with you helping, maybe this year that “Peace on Earth” thing will finally work.

Love you!

Dick Brooks