By Kristen Byram
'Dear Santa, my daddy died this year, could you bring him back? This is the only present I want. I know you can''t bring him back so what am I going to do?'
'Dear Santa, I want a snake. It will do a great job scaring my little brother. Can I have one?'
These are just among the many letters that one Santa''s elves, Susan McShane of Salt Lake City, has received this year.
'These letters are precious,' McShane said.
McShane suffers from a neck injury she sustained in a car accident years ago. Because of the accident, she spends much of her time in bed. But around Christmas, her time gets put to good use. She writes more than 400 letters to children every year. She begins the day after Thanksgiving and seals the envelope of her last letter around Dec. 23.
Unlike many organizations that help Claus, McShane writes each letter by hand. She reads them and then does her best to personalize each response. She said she has seen a variety of letters, some she considers to be little sheets of miracles.
McShane got the idea of sending Santa letters years ago when she was looking for people to write Santa letters to her children. She called organizations and found it would cost about five dollars for her children to get a reply.
'I thought well geeze there''s got to be something else,' McShane said.
McShane called numerous organizations to see if she could be the solution to the problem. She found no answers. Nobody could tell her what happened to Christmas wish lists.
Years later, when her children left home, she got in touch with a post office. She decided to spend her spare time as Santa''s helper.
'The post office asked me how many letters I wanted,' McShane said. 'I asked how many will you give me. They said why don''t you start with 25, but we could give you a thousand.'
Sorensen told McShane the she tries to be sure to get a letter back to every child who writes Santa.
'I got my 25 and I was hooked,' McShane said.
Larene Sorensen, the complaints inquiry clerk in consumer affairs for the United States Postal System said more than eight thousand letters to Santa flood post offices throughout Utah every year. Sorensen said McShane is one of many people who help lift the burden from the man in red.
One time she got a blue envelope with no letter inside. The letter did have a return address. McShane wrote the letter back to the author, a little girl.
'I wrote her a letter and said, ''Oh Autumn, I opened the letter an love spilled out into my hand, raced across my arm and into my heart'',' McShane said. 'I know you forgot to send your letter. If you will write me again I will write you back.'
'There are 50 to 100 more people doing what I am doing,' McShane said. 'It''s a miracle she got the same Santa to write her another letter.'
Autumn''s letter made it back to McShane. McShane got another letter off to the little girl just in time for Christmas.
Not only does McShane try to personalize each story, but she also has worked on creating the perfect North Pole image.
'I received your cute note today,' McShane writes. 'I bet you mommy and daddy think you are cute and adorable. We have decorated our Christmas tree with bright sparkling lights and colorful ornaments, paper chains and sweet candy canes. I even kissed Mrs. Santa Claus under the mistletoe. Tristan, my tiny elf, has fed the reindeer and shined Rudolph''s big red nose. Rudolph says his nose tickles when it lights up.'
GUIDELINES TO RESPONDING TO SANTA LETTERS:
* Spell Claus correctly.
* Write generic statements, not make any specific promises to children and use proper addressing.
* If the letter suggests a family needs assistance, Sorensen asks they be reported to consumer affairs.