Dear Santa Clauses:
It doesn’t matter why you did it. Doesn’t matter if your beard was real, if you like cookies and milk, if you wore glasses, if you had a pillow under that luscious red jacket, or if your “Ho Ho Ho!” sounded like the real Santa or not.
What matters is that you found yourself playing the most preferred persona in all the world and you did it to make someone smile. A scared kid, a resident of a retirement home, your significant other, an aunt, an uncle, maybe cousins, or a group of friends. Maybe all the above, and maybe even you, yourself.
It. Doesn’t. Matter.
And you likely felt the difference you made by portraying ole St. Nick, too, and maybe it involved both happiness and a little sadness because, in all honesty, that would be a true reflection of what the Christmas season provides.
But you were Santa Claus, the one person on the planet with the power of the dream-come-true, and it really doesn’t matter if you enjoyed it or not because, nonetheless, you brightened a day, provoked once-buried memories, and you made the child in all of us feel a little joy once again.
So, thank you, Santa.
Sincerely,
The Naughty & The Nice
(The cover Photo is of Mike Slenski, the “Santa Claus” at Oglebay who has made his portrayal a full-time, 12-month-per-year occupation.)
