LAST CHRISTMAS Eve
was a close call. The Kid
came within a whisker, as
it were, of finding out the
truth about Santa.

I] had been struggling against
his disillusionment for the last
two Christmas Eves in a row.

Rotten older kids at schoo! had
tried to tell him there was no
Santa. This, | assured him, was
reindeer poop. Santa was totally
real, no worry.

“In fact, one of the big pro-
blems is cleaning off the roof
after Rudolph and Dasher and
Dancer and all the rest of them
have been standing around on it
for a while,’’ ! told him.
“Remember that farm we saw
with the cows? Well, you should
see the roof sometimes on
Christmas Day!”’

‘The first year he

| tried to stay up all
night to see Santa he

| mercifully fell asleep
on the sofa by
midnight.
“After we had
tip-toed in and out to
put all the presents
under the tree, I
tracked my old
arctic survival boots’.
from the asies-in the

| fireplace across the’
floor.’’

Why, I wondered, am j lying
to this child? It was worse than a
capitalist conspiracy, really. It
was a conspiracy that involved
not only his Mom and me, it in-
volved all his grandparents and
aunt and uncles and. family

B friends — everybody he was sup-
posed to trust!

The Kid’s natural intelligence
couldn't be foiled’ forever, of
course. He decided he. wanted a
“*scientific’’ answer, and the only
way to get it was.to find out for
himself. A commendable  at-
titude. ‘

The first year he tried to stay
up ail night to see Santa he mer-
cifully fell asleep on the sofa by
midnight.

After we had tip-toed in and
out to put all the presents under

f the tree, I tracked my old arctic
survival boots from the ashes in
the fireplace across the floor.

In the morning, The Kid's
growing © scepticism was over-
whelmed by the footprints —
tangible proof that Santa had
visited}

As ‘the year wore on, his
doubts returned, of course. By

! )
Gogsort®

from
COURTESY CLEANERS
50% off with this coupon til Jan. 8/88.

I471A Clyde Ave. West Van.

“Firefighters raise Xmas funds

Bob Hunter

® strictly personal ®

last Christmas Eve, he had set
himself up to camp on the floor
in front of the fireplace, with
comic books and no pillows, so
he wouldn't fall asleep.

He managed to keep himself
awake longer than his parents
could last, that’s for sure. We
had to set the alarm to wake at 4
a.m. tO move the presents out
from their hiding places.

I had to make :footprints from
the fireplace go around him.

In the morning, he was furious
with himself for losing con-
sciousness, but, once more there
was the proof.

A few months passed....

It was a warm spring day, |
recall, when he marched up to me
in the kitchen and said point-
blank: ‘'Tell me the truth, Dad.
Is there or isn’t there a Santa
Claus? I want to know.” ’

I took a deep breath, avoide
his mother’s eye, and blurted
out: ;

“No. It was-ali a lie. We lied
to you.”’ :

He was hurt of course.

“Why, Dad?”’

“*Because we thought it would
be a good idea for you to spend
your childhood growing happily

, andi.innocently behind the pro-

tection of a wall of neat make-
believe stories like Santa Claus,
without having to face harsh re-
ality too soon.”’

He took it pretty well. A tear
did appear in the corner of his
eye. He did have to look away.
And he did say sadly:
“Christmas won't be the same

. without Santa.”

His mother rushed to hug him
to ease his suffering.

Then a wicked thought occur-
red to him. He looked at his lit-

* tle sister, blithering happily about

Saata.

‘Supposing I tell
truth?”

**You’d spoil Christmas for
her,’’ I replied, ‘‘and she
wouldn’t have a happy
childhood. You’d hate yourself
the rest of your life. In fact,

her the

everybody, Grandpa, Grandma, |

Mom, me, even the dog, we'd
think you were a total creep, and
we wouldn’t be able to look at
you without throwing up for the
rest of our lives.’”

He considered the idea of liv-
ing all by himself, as we all do at
one time or another. Couldn’t
handle the prospect either. He
surrendered and joined the adult
plot.

“IT guess I'm not really a kid
any more, now that I know," he
mused. He only had one last
question, the natural one:

“Will TF still get presents?””

“Oh absolutely!’’ we assured
him.

“Well,” he said with a brave
shrug, ‘“‘I’m Joe Cool. I can
handle it.”’ .

We decided to spare him the
really bad news ... someday hav-
ing to actually go out and buy
stuff with your own hard-earned
money. He's still too young. We
can wait. We'll get him sooner or
later anyway. Ho ho ho.

the Staff of

926-0196

NORTH VANCOUVER District
firefighters dug deep into their
pockets and came up with a $1,100
donation for the North Shore
Christmas Food Bank.

An additional $200 was raised
during the fire department's Dec.
19 toy parade.

The pot was filled further with a
$300 donation from Canada

TAG

CRAIG CLARK
DISTRICT OF
NORTH VANCOUVER
ALDERMAN

North Van people ayaa
are all special and =”
that makes being

an alderman an extreme
pleasure.

F rom my family to you
and yours for the
Christmas season, | wish
you a world of happi-
ness, peace, and pros-
perity in 1988.

Safeway.

The total $1,600 was used by the
Salvation Army to purchase food
from the 13th Street and Lonsdale
Avenue Canada Safeway store.
The food went to fill Christmas

To all our spe ial
friends with t
REAL EST:.TE
BOARD OF
GREATER
VANCOUVER ...

=

food hampers for needy families
living on the North Shore.

This vear marks the third year
North Vancouver District
firefighters have raised funds for
the local food hamper effort.

Thank you for the time, energy,
enthusiasm and funds you’ve donated
toward the fight against multiple sclerosis

throughout 1987 ...

without you!

we couldn’t do it

From the Board,
members and staff

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
SOCIETY OF CANADA

BRITISH COLUMBIA
DIVISION

725 MARINE DR.E
N. VANCOUVER

934-0331