Dear Santa — October Memoir Challenge
This is my nineteenth post, for age 19, of the October Memoir and Backstory Challenge hosted by Jane Anne McLachlan. My previous posts: Baby Speed Eater, Two Tales, Curls, Most Magical Christmas, Kindergarten, Places, Mental Health in 1969, The Boxcar Children, The Little House Books, Too Thin, Four Square, Curls: Take Two, Scouting, Schools, Sophomore Year, 1979 Book Review, Library Assistant, and College Food.
I didn’t remember writing a letter to Santa Claus when I was a sophomore in college, but it’s in the stack of letters that my mother kept.
Letter to Santa from Joy, age 19
She even kept the envelope.
In case you can’t read my handwriting, here were my wishes:
- a dolly with golden curls who is good in math
- a teddy bear who knows all about circuits and resistors and things
- the newest computer on the market (but it has to be small enough to fit in my dorm room)
The perfect Christmas list for a sophomore in college with a brand new major in Computer Science. I started college with the idea of becoming a physical therapist, but a volunteer job convinced me that some people had a gift for working with the sick but I did not. By then, I discovered that I liked hanging out with the computer geeks more than the pre-med types. So, I switched to the major that got me all-night access to the computer lab.
The switch in my major meant that I was playing catch up in math and engineering. I was always looking for assistance — dolls and teddy bears would have been cool, but I relied on friends. We were still a few years away from students having computers in their dorm rooms so the last request was unlikely, too.
I suspect this was in response to my mother asking what I wanted for Christmas and that this response would have made my dad laugh but exasperated my mother.
How old were you when you wrote your last letter to Santa?
Ha! I like this! When I was reading this post, I kept going back to the beginning. I couldn’t believe that you were in college! I’m sure your dad must have laughed good and hard over this letter.
Love your loving teases to your parents. This predated the talking Barbie that cooed “Math is hard.” Ahead of your time in so many ways.
This is a delight! How wonderful that your mother saved it. I don’t remember the last letter I wrote to Santa, but I have a picture of me sitting on his lap at 16, & another from just a few years ago.
You were always a good girl, and any fights you has with your brother were unquestionably his fault. Love you.
That’s great! I love finding old letters. “Mr. Claus” is hilarious.
Ah, those letters to Santa! Can’t remember my last one, but this is so telling of the great relationship you must have had with your parents.
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