One year we lived in Jackson, Mississippi and spent Christmas there. On Christmas Eve, I was sleeping in the bed with my parents. For some reason, I woke in the middle of the night and Santa was standing in the door looking at me. I was so excited because I knew he would be leaving me something nice. I shut my eyes really tight and pretended to be asleep. Then I felt the bed move as someone got into the bed with us. Later, when I told my friends about Santa being at my house, they laughed and said I had been dreaming. I knew better. My very own Santa had been standing in the door watching me with love in his eyes and my very own Santa was the person I felt getting in the bed that night. I am 66 years old but I still believe.

When I was in the second grade, we lived in a very small house that my dad had built for us. The house was on our small farm in Mize, Mississippi. It only had two bedrooms, a bath that was not even completely finished, a living room, dining room, kitchen and a porch on the side but to us, it was a mansion because it was our own.

The first Christmas in that house, we did not have a lot of money to spend but somehow my parents managed to get together enough money so that Santa could bring me a Bulova watch. I was so surprised and so pleased. As soon as I opened the box and saw the watch, both my dad and I wanted to open it and look inside because the note on the box said 17 jewels and we wanted to see them. We did open the watch and checked out every moving part of it; then we put it back together and I wore it for a very long time. I think my mother finally threw it away when it quit working.

We had the prettiest Christmas tree ever that year and every year that I can remember. When it was time to get a tree, my daddy and I would go out into the woods near our house and choose the perfect tree. He would cut it, nail cross boards at the bottom and set it up in the living room. Then he would take a huge box of Ivory flakes (soap) and add some water. He would beat the flakes and water until they formed lots of snow. You see, way back then, you couldn??™t buy artificial snow for your tree so he made ours for us. I don??™t really remember how he put it on the tree but he did not make a mess doing it because mother wouldn??™t have allowed the snow if he made a mess. After that, the tree would be decorated and I would wait to see what Santa would bring on Christmas Eve. I believe in Santa Claus.

Each year, for as long as I lived with my parents, I believed in Santa. I got presents from my parents but every Christmas, Santa would leave a surprise for me. After I left their home and moved into a home of my own, I have had a tree with all of the decorations. My children would help to decorate the tree when they were at home but I think I got more pleasure from the decorations and the tree than any of them. You see, as they grew up, they no longer believed in Santa Claus. But I do, I am 66 years old now and I still believe in Santa.

I lost my beloved Santa 21 years ago today but I know that he is still watching over me as he did for so many years. He is with God now and instead of having him standing in the door watching me, he is standing up in Heaven on a cloud and he is still watching. I had Santa Claus as a child but now God has given me a guardian angel to watch over me. I do believe in Santa Claus whether he has on a red suit with white fur or is wearing long white robes and has angel wings. Santa is a spirit of love and I know that my very own special Santa loved me since the day I was born. I am 66 years old and I believe in Santa Claus.

?© Doris B. Fandal
December 3, 2004