Ms. Claus decided to surprise me one day by bringing me a plate of cookies and some of Judy’s hot cocoa. Arriving at my office, she found me lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. “Are you okay? You don’t usually lounge in your office like this.”

I sat up and looked at Anya. “I’m fine. The letters from children came today and some of them got to me.”

“What did the letters say?” Ms. Claus asked as she sat next to me and took my hand in hers.

“Well, Gary from Indiana, wanted me to get his parents back together. Seems they have recently divorced, and he does not like it.”

“Divorce is always hard on children.”

“Then there was Ellie from Kentucky, and she had just lost her pet Mattie. Seems she was very fond of the dog and was hoping I could bring her back.”

“You could always make an exception to your rule about not giving pets as gifts and get her a new one,” Anya suggested.

“No, we are in the toy and clothes business; besides Ellie didn’t want a replacement. She wanted her Mattie.” I stood and began pacing the floor. “The worst one was from Jen in Ohio.”

“What did Jen want?” Anya asked.

“Her grandmother, who spent a lot of time with her, watching her and teaching her art, recently passed on . . .”

“And she wants you to bring her back?”

I nodded my head. “I feel so bad for them and wish there was something I could do!”

“You’ve dealt with these things with the elves before, why can’t you do the same things with the children?” Ms. Claus wondered.

“The elves live here, and I have plenty of time to talk with them. I’m only with the children for 5-10 minutes,” I responded slouching down on the couch.

“True, but because of who you are, you can accomplish a lot in those few minutes.” When I gave her a questioning look, she continued, “Well for one, it’s always good to re-tell good memories of a person, or even a pet, who has passed. Who knows more stories about people than you? You can remind the child of something really good that the person or pet did with the child.”

I immediately sat up on the edge of the couch. “You’re right! We could laugh about the memory and then I could give them one of my famous big hugs to let them know that by keeping those memories, their loved one will always be alive inside of them.”

“And when their parents separate, you can assure them it’s not their fault, and remind them how they will now have more one-on-one time with each of their parents,” Anya was quick to add. When I slumped back onto the couch, she continued, “What did I say? I thought we solved how to handle this.”

“We did, but I will not see these children for another seven months!”

“No problem, Santa. You should write them a letter, and help them get over their sadness,” Ms. Claus suggested.

Jumping up from the couch I headed to my desk. “You are the best Anya! I don’t know what I would do without you.”  Sitting behind my desk I grabbed a sheet of paper and my pen, then looking up I said, “After I send the letter, maybe we should visit the area where they live just to check up on them.”

“That’s a wonderful idea. I always love traveling with you and we can make sure they are handling their grief in a positive way.”

Santa’s Notes

If your child is having trouble dealing with a loss of any kind, they can write to Santa at:

Santa Claus
c/o PO Box 184
Petersburg, KY 41080-0184

I hope you enjoyed today’s story. I will post another one on June 15th. If you have any comments or if there is something you would like me to tell you about, please feel free to leave me a comment. Until next week . . .

To read more about Reindeer please check out:

Translating Letters For Santa – August 19, 2019
Sensitive Letters – November 18, 2019
A Little Bit of Elf Magic – April 20, 2020
Reindeer Scare – November 15, 2021

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