Believing in Santa

When I was a little girl, my parents told me about Santa Claus and his Magic List. I was told that Santa always gives gifts to good children on Christmas Eve. I grew up believing in Santa.

When I was much younger, my brother and I would write letters to Santa telling him what we wanted for Christmas. We would put our letters in our respective stockings. Like magic, the letters always disappeared the following morning.

Every Christmas Eve we would receive a present from Santa. The gifts were often too big so we'd find them on the floor just below the stockings.

The most memorable gift I received from Santa Claus was my first Barbie Doll. It was called My First Jeans Barbie. I was very happy and I remember jumping for joy.

Aside from gifts, my brother and I always received fruits like apples and grapes. Sometimes, there were chocolates inside our stockings. Oh, how fun it was to be a child.

There were times, when we discovered that some of our playmates did not receive gifts from Santa. We thought it odd that Santa skipped their houses that night. We simply thought that perhaps, they didn't pass the "goodness criteria" that year. We were always thankful that every year, Santa would pass by our house to give us lovely gifts.

I'm not really sure how it happened but I found out that my parents were behind the idea of Santa Claus. I remember that Santa replied to our letters using my own stationary. It just made me curious and eventually I found out the truth. I didn't have a hard time accepting it. I remember playing along for my brother's sake. I didn't spoil it by blurting the truth to my younger brother. I continued helping him write his letters. To my delight, Santa continued to give me presents. I just don't recall when and how my brother found out the truth.

I have many fond memories of Christmas when I was young. My parents always prepared a small Christmas feast. I really miss spending Christmas with my family. It's been a long time since we've been together during Christmas.

I feel the cold chill in the air. A signal that Christmas is just around the corner. I wish everybody will have a beautiful Christmas this year.