"Dear Santa..."

Dear Diary,

I suppose a lot of post offices have  a mailbox like this in December.  This is the one in my town.  Children post their letters to Santa and that would be it but not so in Kezar Falls.  For many, many years a man in town collected the letters each day and wrote a personal letter back to each child.  When the man died a few years ago many thought this tradition would die with him but another has step up to take on the task of writing to the children.

I guess this would be rather hard to do in a city but here in rural Maine it is just one of those things that makes living here so wonderful.  I've seen children mailing their letters and the look on their faces is priceless.  I will be delivering my gift to the Giving Tree today so that a little girl will have a new pair of shoes on Christmas morning.  I hope they make her smile.

There was a segment on the news last night of a man who goes around giving hundred dollar bills to people in need.  He's called the Secret Santa and his identity is a closely guarded secret.  He's been doing it for ten years and each year he gives away over 100,000 dollars.  But as he says, you don't need a lot of money to spread the true spirit of Christmas, just a simple act of kindness will do.  He doesn't ask the people if they celebrate the holiday, it is not important.  Just showing someone you care is.

There are many in the world who do these sorts of things every day and they usually do them with no recognition.  With so much cruelty and hatred in this world, it comforts me that these real unsung heroes are quietly going about their business day after day.  Just be kind...it cost nothing and does so much.

"Dear Santa, please send more of these people into the world!"