a holiday wish

my cyber bud, steve, sends his holiday wish. it's a little dated, but the sentiment is still relevant for today's world.



watching this clip reminded me of when i was a kid and santa was coming to visit our school. all the students were to write their christmas wishes to santa. i wrote,

Dear Santa,
For my Christmas wish I just want there to be peace on Earth - and a hang ten shirt.

Love,
mckay

well, the big day arrived and we all handed our letters to the teacher, then we lined up to go outside and watch santa arrive. i guess he had some pretty good connections - he was being flown in by the newport beach police in their new helicopter. the helicopter landed in a flurry of whipped up wind and asphalt pebbles. we fought to hold down our catholic school uniform skirts and still wave frantically to santa. the letters were delivered to santa by our principal, santa told us to be good and before we knew it, he flew away in the police helicopter.

wow! my first brush with fame. i was giddy and all a twitter. how could i go back into the classroom and thing about math when i had just seen a real life holiday icon? somehow the teacher got us back into the classroom and focused on the tasks in our little classroom world. maybe we finished our parents' classroom gifts, i don't remember.

but i do remember a week later, my mom showed me the local newspaper and how my letter to santa made the front page. seeing santa was one thing, but seeing my name in print was a whole new ball of wax. yeah, santa was a world wide celebrity, but i had my first 15 minutes of fame...or at least for however long it took folks to read the santa story headline before the paper lined tweety's bird cage.

could this have been the start of my childhood lust for fame and the subsequent fantasizing about becoming the newest member of the brady bunch? perhaps, but i sure have another vivid memory of being a six year old at a family reunion - getting all my relatives to stop talking and watch me pretend to faint, so maybe the published letter wasn't the exact start.

these days i don't want fame, but i still love making people laugh, cry or feel something profoundly undefinable. i do wish for peace on earth, but now i know that only happens in movies like lost horizon.

...and the wish for a hang ten shirt has been replaced by lusting for a pair of ugg boots and a new set of calphalon cookware.

happy holidays, everyone!