The ancient Greek storyteller said to have penned Aesop’s Fables opined on the wisdom of purposefully practicing gratitude as a means to a richer, more contented existence.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough,” he wrote.
This is the common thread running through the thousands of letters received by Globe Santa each year - parents, grandparents, and caregivers expressing humble and sincere appreciation for any offering, however simple, to brighten tough times for their youngsters.
The mother of an autistic boy living north of Boston said she’s still reeling from “the hardest two years.” First her mother died, and then her house burned down.
“It has been a struggle getting back on my feet,” she wrote.
The fire not only destroyed the home she lived in with her 8-year-old son, but it also burned all of his sensory toys, tools essential to “his progress,” she said.
“Anything given is truly appreciated, and I will be grateful,” she wrote. “So will my son.”
She blessed Globe Santa for “making a little boy smile on Christmas morning,” signing off as a “Greatful (sic) Mom.”
A college student who is the mother of two young children, ages 3 and 12, also turned to Globe Santa for a helping hand.
“I do not think I will be able to afford Christmas gifts for my children this year,” she wrote.
The mother who lives in the Boston metro area said the family gets by on a fixed income. She generally can count on her mother when she needs help making ends meet. But with the economy especially tight this season, her mother also has been “hit by hard times.”
“I use the little money I do receive for light, gas, clothing, and everything they need for school,” the mother wrote. “But children don’t really understand, and it saddens me to not be able to put something under the tree for them.”
Globe Santa’s generosity is a godsend, she said. “This is a wonderful thing you all are doing, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping mine and many other families in need.”
A mother who lives south of Boston with her 5-year-old son said that after paying bills and buying school clothes and winter gear with her ever-shrinking benefits, there’s nothing left for Christmas presents.
She said she tries to curb her son’s wants and desires for toys and material things she can’t provide. Instead, she tries to “magnify the spirit of Christmas” through expressions of kindness, joy, and generosity of spirit.
Still, it’s hard not to come through with gifts on Christmas morning. “Globe Santa gives us something to open,” she said, adding: “Thankful for this program while we have it.”
A mother of two daughters, 3 and 10, said they are new to Massachusetts after making “the difficult but necessary decision to start fresh in a new state, leaving behind everything familiar.”
The last three years have tested her little family “in ways I never imagined,” the mother wrote. “We’re now building a life here without the safety net of family or friends nearby.”
Through all this, her children have shown “incredible resilience,” she wrote. “Despite everything, they wake up each day with hope, and end each day with gratitude.”
She asked Globe Santa for “help making the holiday season special for my children.”
“I want them to experience magic,” the mother wrote. “To know that good exists even in difficult seasons. That kindness and miracles are real. That life is full of beautiful possibilities.”
Globe Santa’s generosity “would show my kids that the world is full of people who care, even when we feel alone.”
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com
For 70 years Globe Santa, a program of the Boston Globe Foundation, has provided gifts to children in need at holiday time. Please consider giving by phone, mail, or online at globesanta.org.