Letter: Santa appears in many guises

Posted 12/29/17

I still had five heavy books for my grandchildren and a few small items to mail on Dec. 23. As my favorite mail clerk finished stamping “Book Rate,” I reached into my purse but — no …

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Letter: Santa appears in many guises

Posted

I still had five heavy books for my grandchildren and a few small items to mail on Dec. 23. As my favorite mail clerk finished stamping “Book Rate,” I reached into my purse but — no wallet!

“Oh no!” I hollered, and the long line of last-minute mailers froze in their places. The clerk told me to dash home to get the wallet, but there wasn’t enough time.

Suddenly a woman I didn’t recognize in the line yelled to the clerk, “How much is the postage?”

“$21,” he answered.

She dug in her purse and handed the money to him as the tears started to come to my eyes. Then the clerk tallied up the postage of the other small items and another person said, “I’ll take care of those,” and paid for the extra postage.

I asked for their names and they answered, “Hey, it’s Christmas.” When I recovered my voice, I turned to the long and patient line and said, “Now do you believe in Santa?” Everyone was smiling.

I’ll never forget Santa’s kindness in the guise of two strangers. 

Sandy Chabot Landay

1068 Hope St., Bristol

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.