by Chris Tillen, Staff Writer, December 2021

Dear My most beloved and jolliest Santa, 

As the holidays draw nearer and nearer, I can’t help but notice that snow isn’t the only thing in the air. My love for you wafts over mountains and valleys and hills like your delicate sleigh. My passion for you burns hotter than the coals you give the most mischievous kids on Christmas day. If I don’t share it with you I might very well implode with the fire of a thousand suns. How could I even begin to explain the overwhelming feelings I have for you? How could I brush the tip of the gingerbread house that is my undying devotion to you? Well, I’ll start with the first time we met. When I walked into the Natick Mall and saw you on top of your throne of presents and trees I was overcome with jealously. How could all those kids sit on your lap and ask for presents while I stood so far just watching? I knew I needed to make you mine. I saw your jolly eyes full of light and hope. I saw your perfect grin that could light up a million suns. And I saw your powerful heart. OUR heart. Because we are now one, two souls joined together as the ultimate testament to ever dying partnership. 

I wait every single day by the chimney in hopes that I’ll catch a glimpse of you on the job. I love how dedicated you are and how hard you work. You smell like warm hot chocolate and peppermint marshmallows. It’s a smell that makes me feel so safe and loved. I love the way you wear your beautiful red cap. It highlights your perfect face. Your beard stands out as the most perfectly sculpted masterpiece since Michelangelo’s David. Everything about you is perfect. I want to bury myself in your jolly laugh as we ride into the full moon together. It’s the most wonderful time of the year and all I want for Christmas is you. 

Dear Santy Poo, master of my heart  

I am hopelessly and utterly in love with you. In hopes of demonstrating my everlasting devotion to you, I wrote a beautiful poem about you and how the universe meant for us to be together. 

Your eyes are blue like ocean waves 

Your beard is white like freshly fallen snow 

Your suit is red like the passionate throes of longing 

Your sleigh is beautiful like the rising sun 

Your heart is full like my stuffed stocking 

Your laugh is like a chorus of gleeful elves 

Your joy seeps through my veins like warm milk

I love you. 

You bring joy to the world and peace to my heart. 

Be mine this December 25th.