Post #912. Santa.

In the wee hours of Christmas morn (more like Midnight), well past the age of true believing, Santa still makes his annual visit.

Yes, it's true, my sisters and I still received Santa gifts and stockings even as we grew older. I've continued to do this for Sarah and hey, I received my green bicycle from Santa just a few adult Christmases ago.

This probably isn't surprising considering I've always lived in a world of my imagination and that firmly entrenched on my list of forever-Christmas favorites, are childhood songs and animated specials.

Yet this year, I thought for a moment that I might just wrap all of the gifts. Santa never wraps gifts - not at our house, instead they are just magically displayed, often set up out of their packages around the room. Santa is economical when it comes to gift wrap. ☺ But this year, I thought there might be no need to buy two sets of gifts - the wrapped and the Santa gifts.

I would still do the stockings of course, which have become one of my favorite things about Christmas at our house, as I don't just stuff them with fruit and orange tic-tacs like we used to receive as kids. No, at our house, all sorts of unusual and great things arrive in the stocking.

So, when I approached the idea to Sarah around a month ago when I was wrapping all of the gifts, I expected that she wouldn't really care if the Santa gifts were simply out there around the tree or wrapped, but the slightly-distraught look on her face said it all.

The age of believing has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with a tender hearted soul. Some of us will always believe in Santa who is as my Mom always said - the spirit of giving.

So, Santa will still make his annual visit and I'll remind our 16 year-old to stay in bed around midnight, while the two Santas fill stockings and set up presents around the room. They will then toast in Christmas, or more likely - just go to sleep. ☺

I'm so glad and fortunate to have these three photos from my childhood. The Santa above with me, from around 1966, reminds me of the old images of "Father Christmas". Oh, and I DO remember that coat and mittens - the texture, the feel and look of them. Me and clothes - we connect in memory.

The photo below would have been around the late 1960s and it was taken in a "Santa House", one of those sweet little, usually-temporary houses (like a playhouse/decorated shed) that used to be installed in shopping plaza parking lots or downtown squares. They are still used in some towns but not very common anymore. There was something so charming about waiting outside in the cold to go into the little house where Santa was waiting.

You can see that I was deep in thought about my lengthy list. Some things never change, right Jim?

This photo was taken just inside the living room of our home in Orland Park, in the Villa West subdivision, where each December, someone from the neighborhood Homeowners Association dressed up as Santa and paid a visit to the houses that signed up. As you can see, he always brought us one of those plastic stockings filled with candies. That's my sister Barb in the wig, Angie on Santa's lap, my sister Ann (twins with Barb) and me in the back of course. Good times. Good memories.