Blog: Dadmissions: Santa's Last Letter in our Jewish Home

As a little kid, I distinctly remember the Christmas in the early 1980's when Santa wrote a letter to my sister and I saying he enjoyed coming to our home over the years, but we were getting older and it was time for him to start visiting other homes.

Santa wrote on a 4x3 lined index card, just like my dad used as an English teacher. Santa had this perfect penmanship of all capital letters with taller capitals for the actual beginnings of sentences just like my dad. And Santa had this perfect, cursive signature just like my dad did. Of course, we knew the drill by then but played along anyway.

My sister and I didn't let my dad know what we already knew about Santa. And my dad kept his poker face and did the same in return. It was the last year Santa visited our house...a Jewish house.

Yes we had an unusual childhood in a Jewish home. We had a mom who felt the religion and traditions very deeply. We had a dad who didn't feel that connection at all. But he always loved this time of year, the lights, and the trees. Even when I was a little kid, growing up in a Jewish home, I remember celebrating both Hannukah and Christmas traditions.

I'm now grown up with children of my own again in a home where we celebrate both seasons. It's given me an unusual perspective and perhaps a deeper appreciation for all that we have in common. Happy Hannukah. Merry Christmas. And have a great season, whatever you celebrate.