Dear Santa,

No, I'm not writing to you to ask for some presents. I'm not going to beg for the new iPhone X or some swag from some brand name store, I just want to talk.

I know it's been a while. I skipped a few years, skipped a few photo sessions at the mall and skipped out on the milk and cookies on more than one occasion. I'll do better, I promise.

You see, even after that that fateful day that my parents broke it to me who really was leaving me gifts under the tree it made me bitter for a little bit. I had been lied to for a majority of my life so that was natural, but as you know, I have since changed my ways.

You do not really go house to house delivering gifts to children every Christmas Eve, but that does not mean you are not real. Many people go about their lives thinking that just because you are not an actual human being means that all parts of you, even everything you stand for, just cease to exist once their parents reveal the jig is up. The idea of you is still alive and well, most people forget that.

You represent more than just presents. You represent the love parents have for their children and all people have for each other, because that was the driving force that keeps this tradition of Santa alive after all these years. You represent kindness and generosity, that something is out there that cares for the happiness of children and others. But most of all, you represent Christmas spirit.

It's the biggest cliche in the book, that the true meaning of Christmas is not the gifts but the motives of the people giving them to you. You embody that, you are everything Christmas is supposed to be about.

So yes, I do not believe in your naughty or nice list, your sleigh,or any of the eight tiny reindeer that pull it, but I do believe in you. I believe in your magic, I believe in your love.

I've been preoccupied with college and finals around this time for the last few years, but I still know you're there. I promise to honor you this year. I promise to leave some cookies out, maybe hot cocoa this year instead of milk.

Thank you for all that you've done during my childhood, and what you will do for my kids one day. I'll see you in a few weeks.

- A college student