Santa

by Debbie
(Connecticut)

I remember that I was around 5 or 6 years old when I began to wonder if Santa Claus was real.

I had several older cousins, and a sister who was five years older than me, who were determined to steal my childhood joy of waiting for Santa Claus to pay me a visit on Christmas Eve. But, my mom wasn't going to let me grow up so fast.

She assured me that there was, in fact, a Santa Claus - and I better be good if I wanted him to deliver the goodies.

So, on Christmas Eve I looked at my list of toys that I hoped Santa would feel I was worthy of. I fine tuned this list that I had been working on since Thanksgiving. At the top of it was a Cabbage Patch doll. (I'm sure every other little girl wanted the same thing that year.)

I put my list on the table, right next the plate of cookies that my mom helped me bake for Santa.

I went to my bed on that cold New England night finding it hard to sleep. I wondered if it was possible for me to catch Santa in the act of delivering presents to my Connecticut home.

Needless to say, I fell asleep before any presents made it under the tree. But, I woke up before everyone else that morning. I travelled downstairs and looked under the tree.

Imagine the joy I felt when I saw my brand new Cabbage Patch Doll, birth certificate and all, waiting just for me!

I walked past the plate of cookies to tell my mom the amazing news. As I glanced at Santa's plate of cookies I realized that he had actually took the time to eat some of them. I even saw a cookie with a bite missing out of it.

This was more proof that Santa was my man - and he was real!

The icing on the cake, though, was when I looked at my Cabbage Patch Doll's face and realized that there was a smidge of chocolate on her cheek. I totally convinced myself that Santa had kissed my baby doll before leaving, to continue on his route. It was unbelievable to me, at that time.

I ran and woke my mother up. I told her of all my proof of Santa's existence, right down to the beloved kiss. And, you know what she did?

She reacted with just as much excitement, amazement and surprise as I did. It was like she didn't even know how special Santa could make a little girl feel.