Blessings,

it was the last christmas.

in which he gave her his heart.

The fireplace crackled, and the seasonal decorations lifted the air, smells of pine trees and baked holiday cookies was a gift unraveled. A red Santa hat that she wore, decorating the tree; ornaments, lights, the snowy specks. Oh and the star.

They liked being in each other’s company, and they were willing to work at it. Emotions to the highest extremes. Loving projects to reconnect. To see each other in a light that may have been forgotten. He kissed her under one of the few flowers that still blossom in the winter, a mistletoe.

“How do you think Santa eats all those cookies and milk in one night?”

“Well he’s got a big belly, sweetie. He knows too much is bad for him but it's mostly once a year. And I bet he makes sure to eat lots of vegetables, fruits, and drink plenty of water on the other days of the year.”

“So how does he get around the world to every house in time?”

“His sleigh travels across time and space, which we cannot see. When we do see it, it’s just a glimpse of what was there, like a star. The reindeers, the jingling, the sack of toys he carries.”

“What do you think he got me?”, she asked excited.

"Well what did you write on the list you sent him?”

As she finished her list of gifts he paused and responded, “maybe he will stop by and drop one of it off. But remember, he’s very busy and sometimes he isn’t able to make enough toys for everyone or get everyone everything. So don’t be upset if he isn’t able to make it this year.”

“I won’t”

Her father smiled.

He was Santa’s little helper, that was what he told her when she thought Santa wasn’t real. Santa, he would tell her, lives in a part of each of us. He didn’t like to take credit for something that wasn’t him. Because the Grinch was there too, he wasn’t mean or nasty or greedy. But just someone who didn’t care because of the experiences in which that was grown. He taught her to understand. Because he said you have to understand one end of the world, to understand the other end. Too far can often lead to be the same. And having one without the other, was like a world in black and white. So she wrote a card and left him a gift one Christmas night. To the Grinch.

But Santa always made it, never in the price, sometimes late, sometimes early, always in the value of what it was meant for. Sometimes no gift, was the gift itself. For a gift is measured in the thought and the time. A thought in what it may represent and the significance it may show. Time in the taken piece of life that was lost in preparation. The best gift you can give someone is your time, because it is a part of your life you may never get back. It was the last Christmas. A pain his heart could no longer bear. It was coming to an end…