Dear Santa;
I don't know if you remember me. It was a white Christmas. I was about 6. I was awaiting your visit so very anxiously. You see, I just knew that this was the year I was finally going to meet you. Dad's best friend was dressed up as you every year, but I always knew that he wasn't the Real You. For one thing I clearly recognized his voice, and he also looked nothing like you.
So this one year, I learned a very difficult song especially for you as I wanted our first meeting to be very special. I didn't understand most of the words in the song and it was hard work to memorize all the lyrics but I did.
A couple of weeks before Christmas I was working on a drawing in my room when my mom told me that she'd just heard noises from the living room and that she thought that she might even have seen your red coat and boots in passing.... so off I ran to catch you. You weren't there anymore but there were all these presents all over so I knew that mom was right. You had come and gone. I was very surprised about your visit, since it was the beginning of December and that you had come so early. Mostly, I was very, very sad to have missed your visit.
The next day I found out that I had to be in the hospital for a few days to have my adenoids removed. I didn't really know what that meant but I understood that it wasn't going to hurt me and that there were going to be many other children in the hospital whom I would make friends with. Some of the children in the hospital, dear Santa, were very, very skinny and had dark circles under their eyes. One of them I was told was dying. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, Santa. Long, black hair, dark skin and black eyes. Her room was on a different floor. Most of the other children had their parents sitting next to them all the time and there were always a whole bunch of them opening presents and yelling out in joy. I didn't really understand why I was there, why the beautiful girl was dying and and why people were opening presents when it wasn't even Christmas yet.
And then you came. Walked into the room, tall and grand. You could hear a pin drop as we all looked at you in awe. This was the first time that I saw you with my own eyes and your presence was even more overwhelming than I imagined. Not my dad's skinny best friend, but YOU, the Real Santa. I was so happy, my heart was pounding in my throat and at that moment I knew for sure that miracles did exist. You walked up to me, you knew my name and you gave me a small red pouch filled with candy. Santa, I was so very happy, that I completely forgot to sing you the difficult song I had learned especially for you.
And when several years later by sheer coincidence I ran into the beautiful girl with the black hair and black eyes and she too remembered me and she told me that she was healthy again, that day, I knew for sure that that day, in the hospital, back when I was 6, the one and only time that I met you, was a day of miracles.
Merry Christmas Santa.
Agnes
