X-Mas Wishes

With the economy being bad, even Santa is getting a new list of "special requests" made by wishful thinking children these days.  See:  "Ho ho ho! Kids share economy woes with Santa"

I remember as a child, asking Santa for the typical things:  A new Barbie, a doll house, flashy go-go boots or  a good pair of clogs.  After all, Christmas was all about presents, and the things I knew my a.parents wouldn't get me.  I knew Santa was my go-to-guy for toys.  He was NOT the guy to go for heart-felt special requests.

When it came to secret wishes, I kept the most important one to myself, and waited until it was my birthday, for me to make my "special" yearly request.   I would pray to God, asking Him, "Please bring me back my Mommy, and maybe (if it wasn't too much trouble, God), bring me my Daddy, too." 

I learned very early in life,  whether a child asks from God or Santa, some wishes don't come true, no matter how good a child tries to behave each and every day in every bloody year.

Never in my life did I ever tell my a.parents how I wished and prayed for a different family.  Such an admission would have brought me an enormous amount of trouble... so I kept this wish between God and myself.

This year marks my 41st Christmas.  I realize, if not for my very own children, when it comes to wishing for the family where I felt like I finally fit-in, I would still feel the same as I did was I was just a little kid.

Oddly enough, this is the first time I ever wondered if my parents ever missed having me around during the Christmas holiday season.