“Ho, ho, ho” says Santa.  We had breakfast with Santa at the mall!  Anna attempted to write her letter to Santa.  She was able to put her name on it as best she could.  We have been practicing letter writing at home. She reached up with her little hands and put it in the mailbox just like her brother and sister had done, moments earlier.  They had story time there and the best part-they were able to meet with Santa and speak with him one on one. Anna faced Santa, looked him square in the eye and as Santa belted out a large, “Ho, ho, ho,”  Anna says, “why you say that? Why you say ho, ho, ho?” Santa, as was I, was a bit taken aback! Santa then repeats, “Ho, ho, ho” and then replies, “well, what do you say when you laugh?” Anna, once again with a serious look on her face, opens her mouth wide open and says, “Ha,ha,ha.  I say ha,ha, ha”, to which Santa replied, “Ho, ho, ho, ha, ha, ha, he, he, he, he”. A nice response on Santa’s part-it was a bit embarrassing and hilarious, all at the same time! I was glad that Santa had a sense of humor and a nice response for her because I don’t know how I would have responded.  On seeing this, I was reminded our dear Anna’s unique personality! I often wonder what her little thoughts are in her head as she takes in and processes her environment around her. It’s amazing what she comes up with that I haven’t seen before. She may be processing everything in a very different way than we are, but one thing is certain, as a result, she gives us all in this world a very different and unique perspective!  I think having a child with special needs in our lives truly helps us avoid a narrow minded thinking pattern, but instead, helps us to open up, not only our hearts, but also our minds. As my Godmother always says, “Anna makes all our lives much richer.” That is the truth! What a blessing she is and I count it all joy!