This evening, just as my sister was getting ready to hand the phone to my niece so I could wish her a Merry Christmas I shouted, “Wait!”
“What?” my sister asked.
“Does she still believe in Santa Claus?” I inquired.
It was imperative that I know this because my niece is almost nine years old and if I remember right, by the time I was that age I had begun to question the existence of Santa Claus. I had a little sister who was only a toddler when I was eight and a half and I knew that believing in Santa meant more Christmas presents so I convinced myself that he was real for a few more years, but technically I didn’t really believe anymore.
I wanted to ask my niece if she was excited for Santa to come, what she had asked him to bring her for Christmas, if she had left milk and cookies out for him, if she was going to have a hard time going to sleep because of the anticipation of what Santa might bring: I wanted our Christmas conversation to be about Santa, but I wanted it to be one with a child who was still caught up in the delight of Christmas Eve, not one with a skeptical “tween” who thought I was off my rocker for asking her questions more suited to her 2 ½ year old brother.
“Yes,” my sister said, “She still believes in Santa this year.”
And so, to my delight, I got to talk about the letter my niece had written to Santa and what she had asked him to bring her (a telescope and a guitar). She told me that milk and cookies were on top of the entertainment center waiting for him along with a carrot for Rudolph. She told me that Santa had already been busy for hours because did I know that in other parts of the world it was already Christmas Day?
I was almost convinced that Santa was going to stop at my house by the time she abruptly informed me that it was time to hang up: She had to go to sleep so that Santa wouldn’t pass over the house because she was still awake.
So I wished her Merry Christmas and let her go to bed where I am sure she will dream of the stars she will see with that telescope and the music she will play with that guitar.
Although she didn’t know it, the happiness in her voice was my Christmas present tonight… and it was the best present I received this year.
Merry Christmas everyone!