Beside the tree is my very favorite Christmas treasure, a common sheet of paper worth a fortune to me. If my house was burning down it's one of the things I'd save first. I'm a mom, after all, and this was Brian's letter to Santa written in his inimitable childish scrawl.
"Dear Santa," he wrote, "I hope you will come to my house."
He wrote it when he was adorably five, a mug of cocoa at his elbow, tongue sticking out slightly with the effort of getting it just right.
Fast forward... The son who wrote that note is in college now, and his brother just graduated. I could burst my buttons with love and pride.
It's Christmas, and I am aware once again how amazingly sweet it is to be a mom and to share the wonder and delight of children,whether little ones or those grown tall, and Santa and mugs of cocoa by the Christmas tree.
My name is Sharyn Sowell but I love it when I hear those familiar voices shout my other name. "Hey, Mom! Merry Christmas!"
