Dear Santa,

I can start off with a wonderful tale of how I volunteered at the library over the summer or how I opened the door for an old woman, but that just doesn’t seem like the right approach.

Santa, the day was cold and frigid, yet the sun was still shining overhead.

My family and I had just finished driving up the winding road that led to the small Big Bear town where the sliding slopes awaited our skies and snowboards.

My dog was dressed in his warmest attire and we were glad to finally roll up the window after he insisted on having his head outside for the long, ear-popping ride.

“Are we there yet,” I said jokingly remembering how annoying the phrase had been to my parents when I was a child.

“Twenty more minutes,” my mother said with a smile, “We have to check into the hotel.”

Once we got out of the car, the snowy floor covered our boots all the way up to our ankles and we had to trudge along to the front desk.

Just then, a bear popped its head out of the woods and turned our way carrying a fish in its mouth from the nearby stream.

With the help of my dog Koda, we were able to scare off the bear and return the trip back to a peaceful and fun-filled state away from the blinding and tantalizing fear my family had experienced just moments before.

So yes Santa, due to my utmost patience and bravery I feel as though I have earned the right to receive my number one Christmas present this year.

On a real note, this year has gone by really fast, but when I look back to the beginning of the year it seems like forever ago and much has happened since then.

For starters, I worked my butt off during finals last year in order to achieve my Chemistry and Geometric goals, I did indeed volunteer my time at the library, and I feel as though I have been a relatively good human throughout the year in general.

I have also learned to become more lenient with myself, in a good way,  and realized that not everything has to be on such a tight schedule when it comes to school.

I’m not sure exactly what defines being “good” in Santa’s standards, but being understanding, showing overall human kindness, and obviously saving my family from a bear seemed like a good place to start.

So now I will finish my story and describe what happened after I saved the lives of my parents and sister, Helene.

After we settled into our room, a quaint and cozy space with its own fireplace that overlooked a blue tennis court, we got dressed to go sledding on the local slopes.

My sister and I rushed to find the best tube and were carried up a small hill by an extremely slow escalator belt. It’s no surprise that we ultimately ended up running up the hill instead.

Once we reached the top my sister and I were the first to slide down followed by my parents who were laughing so hard my mom started crying especially after my dad decided to jump on the tube before sliding down faster than us all.

After a couple more times down the slope and a few snow angels on the floor below we headed to a pizza parlor that was right next to the brightest and most festive candy and ice cream shop that ever existed.

I took forever to decide what I wanted and eventually settled on spumoni, which is basically the Italian version of Neopolitan ice cream with pistachios, cherries, and chocolate.

After this, we walked through the lighted, shop-filled streets with those fancy string lights above and enjoyed our walk back to the hotel awaiting the snowboarding adventure the next day was ready to bring.