11/04/2025
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚?
I was my dad’s third child, but the first to believe in Santa Claus (at his insistence).
However, by the time I was five or six, older kids filled me with enough doubt that I began to question my belief. It saddened me, and it saddened my dad, who wanted me to hang onto the magic a little longer.
His solution was to go out right before Christmas and find a Santa costume. He dressed himself up and used our camcorder to record himself setting out gifts around the tree.
Christmas morning, he played the video for me and told me he was hiding behind our big chair with my mother so Santa wouldn’t see him. I was over the moon with my new proof, and I remember telling my older siblings over and over, “See? I told you he was real! I told you!”
That memory is especially treasured because he passed away when I was thirteen. It taught me what I tell children now: Christmas magic is 100% real. It just doesn’t always look like flying reindeer pulling a sleigh.
The real magic is learning how much someone cared for you. That they were willing to go the extra mile to create a moment so special you never doubt how important you were to them.
My dad created magic for me, and now I create magic for others in the hope they always remember how important they are.
