TO DONNA — THE HEART BEHIND THE DREAM

For more than sixty-two years, Donna has been my companion, my closest friend, and my greatest source of encouragement. We have been married for nearly sixty of those years, and throughout our life together, she has supported my dreams with a love and constancy that words can scarcely express. For forty years, as I wrote letters from Santa Claus to children, Donna was there.

There were evenings when I was racing against the clock to finish Christmas letters for people at work to take home the following day. While I struggled to find just the right words for each child, Donna would bring me a cup of coffee, offer encouragement, and remind me that what I was doing mattered. She never needed to be the one writing the letters. Her contribution was something equally precious: she made it possible for me to keep writing them.

During those years of writing I would relate, to people who were interested, some anecdotes of the children or their parents, receiving the letters. They seemed to marvel and enjoy the stories. So many of them would encourage me to write a book. I would think and dream about doing so. Many times, Donna would offer to write to the children of friends at her workplace.

Well, in January 2025, after a lifetime devoted to architecture, I finally retired and closed my practice. For years, I had dreamed of turning those Christmas memories into a book, but there had always been another deadline, another responsibility, another reason to postpone it.

Donna, along with our grandchildren, would hear none of that. “Now you have the time,” they reminded me. “No excuses!” And when I wondered aloud whether my little book would ever make the New York Times bestseller list, Donna brought me back to what really mattered. “Look, this has been your dream to write this book. Do it now while you can, and don't worry about that.”

Then one of our sons gave me another gift of encouragement. “Dad, Remember one thing; whether this makes money or not, don't forget; You are giving everyone in the family a copy. Decades from now, that book will be on every coffee table or in every bookcase in the family.”

Those words brought me an extraordinary sense of comfort. I realized that the true measure of this book's success would not be the number of copies sold or a place on a bestseller list. It would be the memories preserved, the smiles remembered, and the knowledge that children, grandchildren, and generations, I may never meet could someday open its pages and discover a part of our family's Christmas story.

Call Me Santa bears my name as its author, but behind its pages stands a remarkable woman whose unwavering love and encouragement helped make it possible.

Donna, this dream became a reality because you believed in it—and in me.

With all my love and gratitude,

Gregory 🎅❤️