Free Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas by Jack Canfield Page A

beholder. And I have learned that through the eyes of a mother, all three of my children are absolutely perfect!
    Carol Sue Hahn

Dear Santa
    Santa, can you bring me a long forgotten smile?
Santa, can you bring me the happiness of a child?
Santa, can you just hold my hand
   and walk with me awhile?
    Down memory lane we’ll wander,
   while Christmas dreams do rush,
Past our empty-nested homes,
   we’ll whisper in a hush.
    Please help me to remember those years of tinsel past,
When our homes were filled with happy cheers,
We always thought would last.
When getting wakened early on Christmas morn,
Brought them peeking ’round the stairs,
And the pitter patter of little feet
   was something we once shared.
    Santa, can you make a snowflake fall gently upon my nose?
Can you bundle me up so warm,
   in all my winter clothes?
Can you take me sledding
   down the hill at North Side park?
Santa, can you please bring back
   just a tiny Christmas spark?
    Can we unwrap some laughter and some extra fuzzy hugs?
I’ll help you warm the cocoa in some extra jumbo mugs!
    If you could help me bring back some forgotten memories,
I made a promise to the Christ child
   I’d drop down to my knees.
I’ll say a prayer for Christmas peace
   and lend a helping hand,
And ride around the globe with you tonight
   with a message for this land.
    Cherish each day as it happens,
put anger and sadness aside,
with the Christ child in the manger,
is where happiness resides.
    Santa, I want to say thank you
   for bringing me Christmas cheer.
Jesus, I want to say thank you for calming all my fears.
    E.M.Hector

Skinny Santa
    I heard a rumor recently—no doubt it has evolved as only rumors do, increasing and changing in its passing— and I feel compelled to do my part in its progression, so I’m passing it along to you.
    Someone, somewhere has started a petition to put Santa Claus on a diet.
    Can you believe it? His image has faltered. He is no longer deemed a good role model for the youth of today.
    He is overweight. His unselfish generosity has been overshadowed by his own mass.
    If the facts were known, it would come to light that the very people signing the petition are the ones to blame for his current predicament. What parent has not prompted starry-eyed children to race to the kitchen before bed on Christmas Eve and produce a delightful treat for the year’s most anticipated visitor? We are the ones who left the cookies and the milk where he was obligated to acknowledge our hospitality by leaving only crumbs and a water ring on the coffee table.
    What is the world coming to? The fact that Jolly Old Saint Nick is now considered weight-challenged will shed an entirely new light on the whole Christmas season.
    The Night Before Christmas will never be the same:
    He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
But now he’s taboo, in spite of himself!
    The happy old man in the bright red suit has become a bad influence. Not only does he not eat right, but he obviously doesn’t get enough exercise. To make matters worse, he is portrayed as smoking a pipe!
    If we’re going to town on the old boy, I’d like to call attention to the fact that he’s dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot. What self-respecting person, elf or not, would make a fashion statement like that? This should be added to the petition. As well, it is probably inhumane to keep reindeer up all night pulling a heavy, gift-laden sleigh.
    Santa needs a new image. He has to get with the program, say the makers of petitions, the guardians of what is right and good.
    There is a little child somewhere inside me quivering right now. Wide-eyed, it’s watching as the powers-that-be muck with the magic of my favorite time of year. Santa has never been the true meaning of Christmas. He is merely a tool in its delivery. He is the spirit