Over the last month, I’ve been writing to Santa and publishing these every Monday (or trying to, internet notwithstanding!). This is my final letter, written for Christmas Eve, 2018. (Please note these letters do not include promotional or hyper links since I am not promoting or selling. This is for giving.)

Dear Santa, I wish…

Santa, over the last few weeks I’ve asked that you give special blessings and gifts to the mentors, the selfless ones and the troubled ones. I’ve given you names to help you fulfill those wishes and I hope I’ve been a good elf.

On this Christmas Eve, I’m not silly enough to ask for impossible things like world peace or bipartisanship between Republicans and Democrats. I can’t even ask for proof of life in outer space. No, even I realize those wishes are bigger than the both of us. But I do have a bit of a quandary with this last letter.

My problem is how can I wish for anything for myself? I have been blessed with love of family and friends, a roof, food and health. Everything else surrounding me is the glitter on the gift box! I feel very selfish asking for anything at all when I have so very much.

As a result I give to charity. I avoid those organizations that say a lot but spend the money on administration and salaries. I want my donations to go to work right away so I give to places like SMILETRAIN, PURPLE HEART HOMES, FEED AMERICA, and HUMANE SOCIETY. I donate to my local VOLUNTEER Fire Department and I give to the POLICE for things like vests and dogs and survivors benefits. Help others to find places to give and encourage giving. It will help so many and makes you feel good. 

So what about me? Well, I do have some selfish wishes. I wish my friends and family would buy my books. I wish for buyers to leave me reviews. I wish to write better stories and to that end I study but a little luck wouldn’t hurt, if you have some extra. I wish successful bestselling authors could be less clique-ish and more open to lesser known authors, like me. 

See? There I go being selfish. I don’t like the way it makes me feel. I prefer to give, Santa. I guess that’s why you are so happy.

So I’m going to wish for more people to do Random Acts of Kindness. It makes you feel good and it does so much for others too. Wait til you see the smiles you get for being generous and kind. Oh, wait, you already know that smile! 

I do have a wish that is far greater than me — I wish for boys, girls and animals to be fostered and adopted! I want people to share the love they guard and to give it to some creature who is aching to be loved. Please Santa, find good homes for these children and pets.

After that, I don’t really have much to wish for except to wish that my friends to know how much their recent kindness, generosity, and love has meant and still means to me. This is the best gift of all. It is priceless and cannot be wished over. If that is all I ever have in life, then I am wealthy beyond measure.

I wish for everyone to be as blessed as I have been. Safe travels this night and give Rudolph some extra oats. Watch out for my friends the bats.

Oh, I’ll be waiting up with cookies. And if I fall asleep, well then, Merry Christmas Santa. God Bless us, every one.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

(I’ll be back for the 2018 Year in Review wrap up next Monday!)

Over the last few weeks I’ve been attempting to write a series of letters to Santa. This letter was supposed to be for this past Monday, Dec 17. We had a storm that messed up the internet and our letter schedule. Therefore, this is letter #3. Please note, there are no promotional links because this isn’t about selling, this is only giving.

Dear Santa, Bless the Troubled

Dear Santa,

This is not a letter of thanks, Santa, but a letter asking for your kindness and aid. I hope you can hear me, Mr. Claus, because what I have to ask would normally go up to The Big Guy Upstairs, but I’m hoping to get a fast track to Him through you.

Santa, first, I want to ask for others to find empathy and compassion for those who are lost. This time of year gives rise to confusion and loneliness. Many feel lost, without anyone to turn to, without a home, family or a friend. As a result, there are numerous suicides (or attempts). When that happens, it seems the trolls come out to play. I hear things like, “well, its his/her own fault.” Or “why didn’t they speak to someone?” 

Good question, right? Why didn’t they? Probably because they were shy, confused, ashamed, depressed, and part of the many lost in the holiday rush. Children who need a kind hand, a strong and loving foster home, or a wish to be adopted. A senior citizen who puts on a smiling face but when the sun goes down find themselves completely shut off from the world. Don’t forget those seniors in the homes who feel dumped, passed over, and forgotten.

We need to remember these lonely souls, the young and the old, the forgotten and the deserted, the anxious and afraid. They need special kindness.

The next group of people I wanted to ask you to support are the sick and the physically challenged. Santa, there are many friends who have battled cancer or who are currently battling cancer…along with several others who have various diseases. It seems the sweetest and most giving end up struggling in some hospital bed putting on courageous faces for friends and family. However, I know that most of these people are worried and scared, deeply afraid that their future may be short or the view of tomorrow will be one of sterile walls and beeping machines.

Santa. those people facing disease or who are physically challenged are the second group of the lost. I want to ask you for them to know love and compassion, to find faith and courage, to know others are praying and encouraging them to keep going. I want them to know I’m more than a face in the online darkness but someone who actually cares and worries and believes they have a fighting chance for a future. Santa, give them that fighting chance. Show them how strong and fierce they can be and help them to find a secret strength they didn’t know they had within them.

Finally, Santa, the hardest lost of them all are the grieving. Whether the tears come from death, flood, fire, or finances, the deep sorrow of grief can be paralyzing, debilitating, stress beyond normal ranges, with a hollowness that no amount of laughter or cheer can fill. Worse, when the grief first happens, so many are there to commiserate and shed tears, offer hugs, and encouragement. But as the weeks crawl by, people leave as their lives go on. Meanwhile, the grieving are stuck in the moment without any way to find forward motion. People need to come back and follow up, check in, remember that grief takes time and life for the grieving is a slow moving carousel. 

Remember that losses coming during the holidays are the hardest to recover from and those are the final examples of the troubled ones. Santa, give them hope. Give them company. Give them random acts of kindness and suprrises. Remind them what joy is and help others to share theirs.

Santa, the forgotten or the lost, the physically troubled, and the grieving are my special cases this year. Please reach into their hearts and share your love with them all. Tell them how much others care for them, worry and pray. Be there for them and pass along our hearts.

This is the candle of hope I light for them. Santa, share this light and help them to feel lost no more.

One more letter coming, Santa. On Christmas Eve I will ask for my most precious wishes. I know you’re wondering what those could be!

Meanwhile, I wish you and the elves good health and good cheer. Merry Christmas dear man. Until the last letter…

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Over the next four Mondays before Christmas, I am writing some small letters to Santa. In each letter I will express my gratitude, and make my wishes known. Here is my second letter, a big one from the heart:

NOTE:  THIS LETTER WAS MEANT FOR DEC 10, BUT DELAYED DUE TO NO INTERNET FOR SEVERAL DAYS. THIS WEEK’S LETTER WILL APPEAR WED DEC 19.

P.S. no promotional links provided during these thank yous.

Bless You, Selfless Ones

Dear Santa,

I don’t want to confuse you. Last time I wrote about the mentors and asked you to bless them with good things for all the lessons and support they give so generously. This letter I’m asking you to recognize the selfless supporters. I know it sounds like I’m repeating myself, but I’m not.

The supporters are those who have lifted me up, held me aloft, without asking me to spend money or to repay them. These people gave of their time to market, promote, assist and in general, showcase me. They did not expect any payment, never asked for any, and never will. They are a rare breed of individual and I want to thank them. Some may also be, or have been, mentors, but for the most part they are a unique persons with unique gifts.

First, let me thank a man who seems to have faded out of my life. Ron Shaw. He was the first person to put me on the radio thanks to an introduction arranged by Robbie Cox. Ron Shaw and I shared a love of stories and poetry. And that first time on the radio put me into new hands, and helped me to meet other new people. In fact he put me on the radio twice. And it was free. Yup. Free. I want to send him special blessings for taking a chance on me.

Then I need to thank Ms Musu Bagura for taking me on the radio for Focus on Women’s Magazine with La Femme de Prose. I remember feeling so nervous. Suddenly I was going to be speaking to other women writers (the primary audience). Musu was wonderful and set me at ease. I worked with her twice but it left a deep appreciation in me.

Along the way I’ve been blessed with several more supporters who interviewed me on the radio or in person. Thanks goes to G.W. Pomichter, Sage IA and crew at Hangin’ With Web Show for putting me ON air. That was 15 minutes of “ohmygodwhatamidoing” and I was so grateful. 

Coming soon on the heels of Hanging With was Yvonne Mason and her show Off the Chain. Yvonne and I are old friends now despite only having met in person once. There was an instant connection. Yvonne has been a hard core supporter and has had me on air with her over six times. Free. Such amazing chances she takes on this woman. Santa, be especially good to her.

This led to my meeting Laurie Kehoe and her radio show Author’s Corner. Our connection is short so far but I want to know her better, after the generous hour she gave me on air. We share so many likes. It is a friendship I look forward to having and growing. She blessed me so much, so please return the favor, Santa.

The first person who ever did an article about me, an interview, was Anna Mittower. Anna is a writer, photographer and Cosplayer and soon after I met her she went overseas to teach English in Korea. It was years before I saw her again. She may not realize how much she helped me with that first article. Then came others – Linda Allbritten, Dave Michael Jackson, Jenna Brooks, Mary Deal, Robbie Cox, Kimberley O’Malley, Kim McDougall, Terri Wilson, Don Massenzio, PJ L’Rue, Ravannah Rayne – and each one allowed me to shine, showcased by them. This is a singular honor, to let someone else put a glow in your space. For free. Without expectation of compensation, reward or recompense. Bless them fully, Santa.

Santa, these supporters – these selfless, giving angels – are unique because they give without asking for anything in return. They give without charge. They give without leaving behind guilt or expectation. I adore them more than I can say for the support and love they gave to me. “Thank you,” isn’t enough of a gift, so I’m hoping you’ll look extra kindly on them this year.

You might be thinking, Santa, that I should be mentioning friends and family. I agree but that letter is yet to come. These people are the ones who are mostly faceless or invisible, who give without reward, who have supported, promoted and marketed and made a difference in my life. Profoundly. No words I say will ever be adequate, Santa, so please find a way to shower them with extra blessings filled with love. And those I whose names I have forgotten, please bless them because they matter even if I’m too old to remember them by name.

My author life began ten years ago. I have been overwhelmed with kindness and generosity of spirit and many gifts that raised me up and helped me to fly. I never want to lose sight of those who put me on the early path and keep giving to me, people who never asked for money, nor changed me for any time or aid. I hope you are able to show them how well I remember, how I will never forget, Santa. My blessings are many and they were free. Just like love.

Another letter next week Santa. We’re closing in on Christmas! Merry Christmas to you and yours.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry