The Mystery and the Magic of Sinterklaas

When my son Chris was a boy there came a year when we’d pushed the Santa Claus envelope as far as we possibly could. His belief in the jolly white-bearded old man had run its course. Still, I sensed a longing and wistfulness, as if deep down he still wanted to believe. Maybe it was my own longing that prompted me to write my son a letter about the mystery and the magic of Santa Claus. The following is excerpted from my letter to Chris.

Christmas 1991

Dear Chris,

For hundreds of years children around the world have asked their parents if there really is a Santa Claus. I knew the time would come when you, too, would question Santa’s existence. Sometimes in life the truest answers aren’t always the simplest. So I decided to explain it to you in this letter.

Santa Claus’ name comes from the word Sinterklaas which means St. Nicholas. And yes Chris, there really was a St. Nicholas. Hundreds of years ago he was the bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey. He was known as a kind and generous man who brought presents to the children who lived in his village every year at Christmas.

Over the centuries some people forgot about St. Nicholas and his love for children. But others remembered and they passed his story down from generation to generation. Then about 100 years ago a man named Clement Moore decided he would write a story about Christmas for his own children.

He sat down on a cold snowy night and he wrote a story that you know well…The Night Before Christmas. Clement Moore’s own children so loved the story that they gave it to all their friends to read. Before long the story spread, and soon children were once again listening for the sound of sleigh bells in the night.

I have my own Christmas story. It’s about a mother and father who took their four-year-old son out on a snowy night in Brooklyn to buy a Christmas tree. They pulled the little boy through the snowy streets in a red wagon. The three of them lived in a small apartment but the love they shared for each other was enough to fill the whole city!

When they found the right Christmas tree they brought it home and had hot chocolate. Maybe someday they would have a house in a place with lakes where the boy could swim whenever he wanted. Who knows, maybe the boy would someday have a little brother named Sean. But for now they had their Christmas tree and their hot chocolate and their love for each other and that was more than enough to make them happy and warm.

By now you’ve guessed that the little boy was you, Chris. You see, what Santa Claus really means is L-O-V-E. He is very much alive in our hearts and in our remembrance of Christmases past, reminding us about the love St. Nicholas had for the children in his village, or that caused Clement Moore to write his wonderful story, or that we will always share as a family.

On Christmas morning when you come downstairs and see the tree with all the presents underneath, I want you to know that mom and I put them there because we love you, because we carry the spirit of Santa in our hearts, and because it makes us happy when you are happy.

Before long Sean will be old enough for you to read him The Night Before Christmas. When you’re done reading the story you can watch your brother as he listens for the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof. And maybe every now and again, even though you’re growing up fast and you know it’s crazy, you’ll catch yourself listening for the sound of sleigh bells in the sky.