We headed to the Everett Mall on Sunday with our toddler – who made it clear that he’d rather be toddling than waiting 90 minutes to get his photo taken on Santa’s knee.
So, my wife and I took turns chasing him through the concourse while the other held our place in the line. Interacting with those around me, I realized how many people take the Santa ritual very seriously.
Some family groups were big, some were small and a few were probably blended.
Teen siblings posed cheerfully under their mother’s direction, as they’d no doubt done for 13 or 14 previous years.
What looked like a four-generation crowd jammed themselves onto the picture set.
A determined woman dragged her 6-foot-tall, 21-year-old “little” brother to Santa central to get a photo for their family — and to keep a tradition alive.
Some of the kids, like ours, were too young to understand the point of the trip – or the wait. But some were clearly excited.
“Is this the longest line you’ve ever been in?” I asked a little girl behind me. She nodded shyly.
“Is it worth it?”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.
At this time of year, there’s hardly a section in the newspaper that doesn’t find some way to write about the holidays daily – stories and photographs about charities and businesses, about volunteers and those they help, about religious activities and civic gatherings.
Why are these things news? After all, they happen year after year.
Imbedded in the mass of coverage are a thousand important things – things that we are determined to re-experience at this time of year. They are worth it because we’ve done them before … and we have faith that we’ll do them again.
Like going to the mall for a photo session with Santa.
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