Dear_Sis@the_end_of_my_day.calm©
Two sisters and their friends, share the joys of Larchmont motherhood through E-mail.

by Val Estabrook

Date: 12-06-02
Send To: All my readers
From : Val
Subject: Is there really a Santa Claus?

This month and into next, watch for e-mails of Christmas Past. One year…not long ago, my sister Kim, my friend Ann and I struggled through the holidays together, through e-mail. Our children’s ages gave us varied, though hardly unique, perspectives on Santa Claus, sugar plum faeries and near disasters. It seems like yesterday…and for some of you it indeed may be.
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Date: 12-06-02
Send To: Kim
From : Val
Subject: Is there really a Santa Claus?
CC: Ann

James struggling w/eternal question as only 10 yr. old can. Always been a believer myself. Family tradition. May have contributed to your nephew’s schizophrenic approach to this year’s Yuletide. If James stops believing in Santa…what then. Is last year’s Santa picture truly our last?

Two years ago older brother refused to sit on Santa’s lap…last year Kyle would not even enter the Elves’ Workshop. I shudder. Kyle’s simulated puking in Macy’s Winter Wonderland must have confused his younger brother. Suspect James and I both silently wonder if a break from what has always been will bring something new and wonderful…or just an empty feeling. We opt for another family tradition…we just don’t talk about it. Is there a Santa Claus? Why ask the question if we really don’t want to hear the answer? Onward.

Dec. 1: Macy’s.
At home…slicing potatoes I cannot eat on my no-carb diet….James proclaims he’s too old to visit Santa’s Village, sit on Santa’s lap, etc. Ooops…there goes my little finger. Older brother relieved to hear the news (about Santa, not my missing digit). In an effort to prevent more bloodshed, James suggests visit to Macy’s soda fountain… just outside Santa’s Village and Elf Puppet Theatre. Both boys find this acceptable if not downright desirable and they’ll have the “Kids Special Grilled Cheese n’ Shake” for eighteen dollars a piece…just for old times sake.

Dec. 10: The Letter.
This tradition also in state of flux. Setting aside modest note pad, James pulls out 22x36 graphing tablet, filling in both sides with wish list written in complete sentences and exhibiting penmanship never before seen by any of his teachers. Secrecy out the window. James used to hide his letter under his pillow till it was complete…this year it rests openly on his drafting desk, highlighted 24/7 by his Home Depot halogen desk lamp.

Dec. 11: The Drop.
As usual James drops his letter in the North Pole mailbox at Larchmont Post Office. And as usual Santa’s reply arrives the next day (that alone should be proof the jolly ol’elf exists.) The letter is personal, very kind, embracing and ultimately hopeful. James reads it out loud…checks the post mark. “Mom, see, this letter came through our Post Office, not the North Pole.” “Hmmm,” I say. Melting. My sweetie studies the words for another moment and adds, “But I sure hope there’s some truth to it.” “Me too, baby.”

Dec. 12: The Posting.
Midnight. Been in the kitchen…staring at the refrigerator. Holding firmly onto the past, James had insisted we display Santa’s return letter. Now contemplating same letter clipped to Bert & Ernie magnet…correction… clipped to a dirty Bert & Ernie magnet already holding two ‘A’ papers from Kindergarten, one birthday gift certificate from Gizmo (yes, the store has since gone out of business) and a football schedule (season ended three wks. ago, 2-8). Hmmmmm. Time to move on? What are you contemplating these days?

XXOOVal
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From: Kim
To: Val, Ann
Subject: Hmmmmmmm.

Katie, Emily & Rose…all believers, each in their own fashion. Consider your goddaughter, Katie, 10 years old, walking into my bedroom holding a college ruled loose leaf sheet filled out on both sides. She tosses it onto my dresser saying, “Santa list, thanks, Mom.” She waltzes out. The mold has not yet grown on the leftover turkey and my first born has already put together a wish list forty items long.

The last request on her list, “And lots more stuff,” particularly warms my heart not only for its lyrical quality but for its nod to the possibility of surprise. Does Katie believe in Santa? Like James, she is covering her bases. And like James, you and me…she will always believe.

Got to run. More later on my unending quest for this season’s most popular toy. You guessed it. It is the only item on Rose’s Christmas list and it is not to be found.

See you Friday at St. Augustine’s Holly Lunch! I’m bringing chicken salad.

XXOOKim

Look for more holiday stories of faith…hope…and enduring hope that Kim will find that toy & fulfill Rose’s Christmas wish…no matter how many other mothers she has to step over to grab it. I’d love to hear your family stories. Write to me at Val@larchmontgazette.com. Just click on the blue link. XO Val

Val and Kim Illustrations by Larchmont artist Sue Girardi

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