Dear Santa, c/o North Pole, Canada HOHOHO:

It’s been more than sixty years since my last letter, but things have been a bit challenging this year and I thought I’d try to enlist all the help I can get to make this the best Christmas ever. First of all, thank you so much for the Monopoly game you gave me in 1956; it went a long way in helping me understand the business world, the perils of borrowing money from the bank, and the importance of carefully managing my assets, a particularly relevant issue now that I’m retired. I eventually outgrew the skates you gave me but not before putting a lot of miles on them in frozen ditches and puddles, the outdoor rink at the school and the little pond at Indian Hill behind the fairgrounds. Those lovely new red flannelette pyjamas with snow flakes on them that you left for me every year were wonderful too because the bedrooms on the second floor of our house were not heated; the better to snuggle with.

This year, however, my wish list is a little different. I’ll keep it brief as I know you’re busy and time is running out:

1. Could you please leave a package of reassurance for those selfish, narrow-minded people who think every refugee escaping death and destruction in their homeland is a potential terrorist. We know that the odd crazy will always find a way to slip through the security net but remind the doubters that no one chooses to leave their home, their livelihood, their friends and families to walk down dusty roads and risk their lives in leaky rubber dingies with little more than the clothes on their backs unless they have no other choice for survival. Living in fear is no way to live.
2. We’ve come to accept that politicians are pretty much a lost cause when it comes to watching over our best interests and making the world a better place but perhaps you could give them the gift of walking in our shoes. Maybe then they would better understand what it’s like to struggle to pay the bills at the end of the month without a nameless reservoir of taxpayers to cover their mistakes and errors in judgement. And maybe they could do what we actually elected them to do.
3. Please put a little bit of compassion and understanding into the stockings of Americans who do not understand the necessity and value of universal healthcare. To be one of the few countries on earth that does not take care of its citizens in times of need is beyond my comprehension.
4. If you could drop a candy bag full of kindness, compassion and empathy on all the bad people in the world, I will never ask you for anything ever again. Help them to understand that their actions are misguided and like George Costanza, if they do the opposite of what they have been doing, everything in life will get so much better.

5. 

   When you drop down that universal chimney in the sky, leave a note beside the milk and cookies suggesting that women run the world. Men haven’t done such a great job what with all the wars, pollution, abuse and violence. Be particularly thorough in distributing this message throughout the Middle East, Pakistan and Russia.

6. Finally, please assign a senior elf to look over the helpless and needy. Not everyone in this world has been blessed with the advantages and gifts I’ve received over the years so please direct all of your resources toward helping those who truly need it. And then I will truly live happily ever after.

Your friend, Lynda

P.S. If you could see your way clear to remove the calories from all the Christmas goodies I plan to consume over the next couple of weeks, I promise I’ll be an even better girl in 2016. Thank you, and hugs to all.