Santa Claus is for big girls too!

Dec 25, 2019 News

---

By Anastacya Peters

Since she was a little girl, Maria would often tell herself that Santa Claus only delivers presents to his favourite children around the world. She even convinced herself that she was not one of his favourites, since whenever she’s asked for a Christmas present Santa always failed to deliver.

As an orphan growing up in Guyana, every year when the Christmas season approaches it becomes very difficult for her, since she always embraced the belief that the best place to celebrate Christmas is at home with your own family or at least with someone who cares about you.
Although she is much older now, Maria still vividly remembers life at the orphanage. When the Christmas season came around, it would often find her lying in bed counting down the days to Christmas. Each time the eve of Christmas arrived she would convince herself that if she gets a chance to meet Santa she wouldn’t let anger get the better of her, although he has been unwilling to grant her the one request she had for many Christmases.
But when Christmas Day comes and goes, a piercing pain would envelop Maria’s chest owing to the realization that yet another year Santa failed to grant her, her heart’s desire.
Her wish was simple, always simple! All Maria wanted for Christmas was a family.
“All I wanted Santa to give me was a family…so we can have dinner together, watch movies, and spend every moment just so we can create memories that will last a lifetime.”
“I remembered saying to myself, if Santa is able to deliver toys to all the children of the world every Christmas Eve, he certainly can grant me my heart’s desire, but underneath the same breath I said that if Santa couldn’t grant me my Christmas wish, then my letter to him is not important, and I certainly must be naughty by nature,” Maria quipped.
The years went by and Maria remained without a family right up to the day she was old enough to part ways with the orphanag

e. But something had changed by then; Maria had no desire to celebrate Christmas anymore. Christmas, she accepted, was certainly not meant for her enjoyment.
“I was repulsed by the Christmas season, I started thinking I was the only person in the world who didn’t have any reason to celebrate Christmas,” said Maria.
“When I left the orphanage to live by myself at the age of 18, I became even more repulsed by the idea of the Christmas season.’
But something she couldn’t explain was still clutching at her heart strings whenever the holidays came around.
One day from the window of the apartment she was renting, Maria recalled that “I looked out at the bright Christmas decorations and the Christmas tree on my neighbour’s verandah. An inner voice whispered ‘one day you will have a family of your own and we will celebrate just like that’.”
“Perhaps she saw the longing in my eyes or maybe for the simple reason that I lived alone, but one day my neighbour, Mrs Sue, decided to invite me over to spend Christmas Day with her family.”

It was everything Maria imagined it would be – eating, drinking, gifts, laughter some music, and oh yeah, even more laughter. This thoroughly joyous time continued until dusk at which time Maria said a heartfelt thank you and bade her host farewell.
“As I walked out the door, a warm feeling came over me, and in that very moment I knew that spending the day with that family was just the way I had imagined, several years earlier, celebrating Christmas with a family of my own.”
“But the new year came and another Christmas came around, except, this time around, my cheerful neighbours were not there.”
They’d migrated and their apartment was being occupied by a man whose appearance was a cold as the Grinch who stole Christmas. His demeanour was almost contagious, for before long, Maria too was despising all things Christmassy.
However, her feeling towards the Christmas Season took a drastic turn when she was invited to a Christmas fun day for children of the various orphanages in Guyana.
“When I arrived at the venue – the National Park – I was amazed to see so many orphans. Instantly I felt a connection with them, since I am no stranger to the life of an orphan. But unlike me they were all happy…they were playing and laughing heartily as if all was absolutely right in their world.”
And then out of the blue, Maria heard the loudest but oh so inviting “ho, ho, ho”. “Immediately I looked around and there he was standing before me – that jolly old man they call Santa Claus, the same Santa Claus who failed to grant me the request I so longed for, for years. There he was hugging and playing with the kids and of course, giving them the gifts that their hearts so desired,” Maria shared.
“But what about me?” she questioned in her mind. “At first I was angry; angry he didn’t give me a family and there he was giving away toys to children just because they asked for them. Have I not been a good child even to this day? I still wanted a family to celebrate Christmas with, was it too much or too late at this point for me?” Maria questioned.
And then the unthinkable happened. As if he read her mind, “Santa slowly turned his attention to me and asked ‘So what would you like from Santa this year?’
“I almost cried out, but I tried to maintain my composure. I was talking to Santa Claus after all these years; he whispered in my ear ‘I never forgot you’…it was a bittersweet moment for me,” Maria said, as she recalled the most amazing Christmas she spent at her neighbour’s home the year before.
“It didn’t happen when I wanted it to, but Santa Claus did come through for me when I was not even expecting it. I guess, Santa Claus is for big girls too,” said a smiling Maria who is having a jolly time celebrating Christmas this year.

 

 

---

---