Sycamore writes Santa Claus

[elSicomoro]

9 December 2002

Santa Claus
North Pole

Dear Santa:

You're going to get a ton of letters this year, but I don't think you'll be getting many from 27-year olds...ah, what do I know?

You're going to be receiving letters from kids that want Spongebob Squarepants, X boxes, and Yu-gi-oh! cards. I too am going to be asking for a few things, but I'm going to give you the option as to what to bring. I'd be happy with one, two, some, or all of them, so don't feel like you're under pressure here.

I'll get the real material things out of the way first: Playstation 2 with Madden 2003, a DVD player that will allow me to play both North American and European DVDs, a 35" TV, a new living room furniture set, a new queen size bed, $100,000 cash tax-paid, or a car.

But there are two things in particular that I would like more than anything...and they're not quite the standard "material" schtick.

I would love to have a new job. I've been looking very very hard for the past year, and just can't seem to get my foot in the door. I'm not asking for anything overly grand here...a nice admin assistant job in the city or nearby suburbs that pays at least $26,000 a year and offers vacation time and health benefits. See...I'm not asking for my own office or anything.

The other thing would be a new kidney for my fiance, Rhoda. She has been suffering from end stage renal disease for over a year. Her sickness has made it difficult for her to get a job, leaves her feeling ill a lot, and makes her rather unhappy and frustrated. As you may know, it is very hard to find African-American donors in the US, and most African-Americans can only get a kidney from another African-American. Perhaps you could gently nudge some of her family members to take the steps necessary to determine if they are donor matches. My family members are unfortunately not good matches.

I've tried to be very good this year. I've been working on making myself better physically, and have tried to be the best Sycamore I can be. I'm not perfect, but I assure you that I am trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

As I previously mentioned, there is no pressure here. Any of the above gifts would be nice, though the last two mentioned would be even more fantastic.

Well, I guess that's it. Be careful driving in the snow, and don't drink too much egg nog...you never know what's in that stuff.

Merry Christmas.

Your pal,

Sycamore