Must Be Santa

I have a secret.

I still believe in Santa Claus. Not, necessarily as the man in the big red suit with the bowl full of jelly, but I believe that there are plenty of Santa Claus out there.

Think back to one of the Christmases that you had when you were a child. How excited you were, how the days leading up to Christmas were full of anticipation and how your heart carried so much Christmas spirit it might just burst.


As I am typing this I am watching a DVD of when I was two-years-old on Christmas. I was so excited to open my presents, and I was constantly flinging my arms around my parents to give them a warm hug because I was full of the Christmas spirit.

But, as we get older, we somehow lose this spirit. Not, to sound like Linus, but we become obsessed with the over commercialization of Christmas that we forget the real meaning.

In my almost 28 years on this beautiful planet of ours, I have learned that the "Christmas Spirit" that everyone talks about is actually love.

We buy presents for people because we love them, we send out Christmas cards to let people know they are loved and God sent His son because he loves us.

Santa Claus was brought to life from this love.

This is why I still believe in Santa Claus. His spirit is all around us.

This year, I have seen him in the form of many different people.

I saw Santa in the form of a man by the name of Dan Martin, who year after year organizes our local Toys for Tots drive. If it wasn't for him and all of his "elves" then 1,500 children in our area wouldn't have toys on Christmas.

I saw Santa in Stephanie Tomasic, the director of Overly's Country Christmas, a beautiful light display and Christmas village that collects money to donate to local charities. My family and I, along with about 4,000 other people, visited the light display last night.

Santa can also be seen in the simplest of gestures, like a woman who let me go in front of her in Target, through the person who works extra hours to buy their children presents on Christmas or a stranger who gives you a smile and wishes you a Merry Christmas.

So, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. You better believe I will be setting out cookies and milk on Christmas Eve.