The Boy, having turned 9 about a month before Christmas, is probably on his last year of belief in Santa. In fact, it is surprising to me that he still believes, given that his teen sister taunts him often with cries of "there is no Santa Claus". But The Boy holds fast to the magical wonders of Christmas and probably with good reason - Santa is very attentive.
When the various aunts and uncles called to ask me what The Boy wanted for Christmas, I was at a loss. I had asked him myself, only to be told "Don't worry Mom, you don't have to buy me anything. Santa will bring me everything I need". Very sweet, but also very unhelpful.
Two days before Christmas, The Boy decided to write his list for Santa. Luckily for me, I hadn't done the shopping yet and neither had a couple of the relatives.
The list soon appeared, a full page in length. But what was on it was a moving surprise.
He had written only two items for himself. The rest of the letter was a listing of what he wanted Santa to bring the other members of his family.
Of course, now I had the task of fulfilling his gift list for all the people listed. The only one missing was his sister. He felt that Santa would not bring her anything, since she told such untruths about him.
So his step-dad got a shiny new coffee cup, his Uncle got a shinier gold edition comic book, and The Boy got his Lego sets. He even got a set of Legos with cars in it, something he didn't add to the list until after the shopping was done. It was another Christmas miracle.
Of all Christmases, past, present and future, this is one I will remember. I didn't try to make it magical, we were late with everything from the tree to the shopping, coming in just under the wire on Christmas Eve. There weren't nearly as many presents under the tree as in past years. Still it was a Christmas made wonderfully special by the kindness in a little boy's heart and the joy of watching his wishes come true.
Well, all his wishes except the present he asked Santa to bring me... a maid. I did explain that Santa can't deliver people and the hairbrush set was very nice.
And when he asked why Santa brought his sister gifts even though she doesn't believe in him, I explained that Santa is very forgiving and wants everyone to be happy, even if they are teenagers.
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