Dear Editor:
I am 81 years old now and I still want to believe in Santa. The one who brought me new pajamas, some warm socks, and a table game.
There were red and green foil cones on the tree filled with hard candy and a few candy canes, too. I would have wanted more if I could have it, but I somehow understood that we got enough and we were content with that because very few of the kids I knew got more.
I wish we had a really wise Santa, one who limited how many gifts kids get and how many of them are bound to be broken or discarded before the season is over. This new Santa would keep gifts down in number and add gift cards that let children know that he donated to some really needy kids in poor countries … or our own, and that it was done in their name.
I wish he would make sure that his gifts are friendly to the planet and don’t inflict suffering upon animals or trees who all help keep our planet healthy.
In the old days, we looked forward to the season because we had time off from school to go outdoors and build snow forts, skate on the pond, have snowball fights with our friends, shouting, “Take that,” while chucking packed, sometimes sludgy, missiles at body parts protruding from the tops and sides of a hastily built forts. No video games, no TV, no smartphones.
I sincerely hope that Santa will be able to teach kids the joys of the natural world, of having a family, a home, good food, a warm place to sleep in a world where many millions don’t.
This is the beginning of the season. There is plenty of time for Santa to live up to his name and keep what really matters front and centre when making his list.
Gerry Walsh,
Erin