By Abby Munroe

As adults we often forget the joy and excitement with which we anticipated Christmas as children. Beginning somewhere around the first of December we would begin the countdown. Oh, the excitement as we helped our parents decorate the tree and inside and outside the house. In some neighborhoods there was friendly, and sometimes maybe not so friendly, competition, to see which family had the best outdoor decorations. Each year they seemed to get more and more elaborate. John Grisham portrayed this so well in his book which was later made into a movie, Skipping Christmas.
And in the midst of it all was awaiting the visit of Santa Claus. Children today still wait for that Christmas Eve visit with great expectation. In my childhood, hours were spent pouring over catalogues looking for just the most perfect and newest toys to ask Santa for. (Yes, that was a number of years ago as I am now a proud grandmother!) Now children have TV and the internet to see what’s available to delight them on Christmas morning. However, even with all the changes in our way of looking for gifts, two things have remained the same-Santa is the one children believe makes wishes for Christmas morning come true and they still write him letters to be sure he knows exactly what they want him to bring.
I remember my daughters sitting at the kitchen table working diligently to write their Santa letters. They were so careful about the penmanship and spelling. They would draw pictures for Santa and tell him cookies and milk would be waiting for him on Christmas Eve. After carefully addressing them to Santa Claus at the North Pole, we would stamp the envelopes and put them in the mailbox. letter from Santa!