(The Tribune asked readers to share their "Yes, Virginia" letters about the meaning of Christmas. These letters are the readers' thoughts on Christmas.)

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

I first met this gentleman when he had come to the nursing home with a choral group. My mother was a patient, and it just happened that this man offered a compassionate greeting. I had no idea at the time that he lived on our street. Two years after my mother's death, my adored husband, father of our many children, was suddenly taken from our midst. I found that Bismarck was alive with Santas who manifested the spirit of compassion and love to our family. More years passed bringing another ache in our hearts when our oldest son joined his dad and a baby brother in Heaven.

At this moment in time I am sharing the spirit of the gentleman whom I had met in the nursing home in 1974.

Word had gotten around that my sagging spirit was crying "Help!"

Many saints came to my rescue, but at this moment in time I will focus on the one who just left our midst this past August. He was the neighbor down the street and friend to everyone. He had many talents, one of which was raising special varieties of roses.

To give my spirit a lift he occasionally brought to me bouquets of his and Mrs. Santa's roses. At times he would just leave them on my doorstep, but I knew where they had come from. This past summer, he was weakened by a fatal illness. A few days before his departure into the heavenly realm, he was out for a short walk; a bit of fresh air and exercise.

He saw me in my yard and came by, offering his hand in a farewell gesture. He knew the end was near and said to me, when I did my best to conceal tears, "I'll be all right; Jesus is with me." I truly knew that.

If the letters of his name were re-arranged and another "a" added, they would spell SANTA.

His name is STAN.

"Yes, Virginia (and readers ) Santa Claus is very much alive.

Lois Jean Patch

Bismarck

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

I think Christmas is about toys, and Santa, and cookies, and milk, and Christmas trees, and having a birthday cake for baby Jesus.

Your friend,

Jack Scott Weikum, 4,

Bismarck

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Dear Bismarck Tribune:

I know that Christmas is all about giving and being nice to your friends. It's about going to Grandma and Grandpa's house and eating cookies.

Christmas is about Jesus' birthday. That's why we celebrate because the most biggest gift we get is Jesus dying on the cross so we can get to Heaven and live with God some day.

I love Christmas and all the candy and presents! Oh, and the snow!

Your friend,

Olivia Kristen Weikum, 6,

Bismarck

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

Jesus was born and angels came. We celebrate his birthday on Christmas.

Christmas is about giving to others and your family.

I love the Christmas songs.

Your friend,

Katherine Maria Weikum, 8,

Bismarck

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in Santa? We do!

In 2005, our son, Shane, and his wife, Marika, of St. Paul, Minn., were waiting for a call from an adoption agency. They were eager to know if they'd be chosen to be parents for a baby.

Finally the call came! They were chosen, but the 3.9-pound premature baby would have to weigh at least 5 pounds before leaving the foster home in Florida.

We already had many reasons to be thankful and to believe in God and in miracles, for two years Ed had been doctoring in Minneapolis and in Rochester. He survived 14 surgeries, most very serious. He was a walking miracle! We believed in God and in miracles!

And now we had another miracle!

Shane and Marika were to go to Florida on Dec. 24. Baby Elizabeth Lyn was now 5 pounds! It was time to go to Florida to meet the baby. (We all had only seen photos of her!) While there, they spent the 24th with relatives, Emil and Debbie.

On Christmas Day 2005, Shane, Marika and Elizabeth flew home to St. Paul. Elizabeth's first Christmas was spent meeting her extended family. What an exceptionally wonderful Christmas gift! We believe in God! We believe in miracles! We believe in Santa too, after all Elizabeth was our gift! We believe!

Ed and Ramona Hendricks,

Bismarck

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

To me a most eloquent symbol of the meaning of Christmas is a painted plaster figurine of Santa Claus kneeling at the manger.

There in the manger, in that tiny newborn baby; God has released into the world the most powerful idea to invade our thought-life. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to us so that whosoever across the face of the earth believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The birth of Jesus Christ brought into being the manifestation of God's great love for each one of us. That idea has so grabbed minds around the world that decorating and displaying lights at Christmastime is a phenomenon on a worldwide basis, regardless of religious beliefs.

How pleased God must be as He looks down on this Earth to see such a display in honor of His son's birthday anniversary.

That spirit of giving shown in John 3:16 has become in our modern times embodied in all those who act as a Santa Claus, giving to family and friends because we so love them all. Oh, if only that wonderful pervasive love of the Christmas season could be sustained throughout the year!

In meditating further on that power released centuries ago, we see it is not the destructive power of a nuclear bomb, but rather an even more explosive power - love! An example is the sun and rain coming down upon a field seeded to wheat or sunflowers, or an orchard of apple or orange trees, the springtime pull on an asparagus shoot forcing its way through an asphalt driveway.

Talk about spiritual TNT! That's what Christmas is all about! The whole world becomes more like what it ought to be year around.

Mrs. Edna Ray Hinman,

Bismarck

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

Christmas means celebrating family and accomplishments, joys and struggles. We celebrate our togetherness with preparations many days ahead of Christmas … kids and grandkids making cut-out cookies and decorating them with frosting and sprinkles and colored sugar; making rosettes and fudge and lefse; sending Christmas cards to dear friends and family; re-discovering favorite Christmas ornaments and decorating the tree with a competition between the cousins to see who can hang their ornament the highest on the tree; secretly shopping and wrapping gifts.

Christmas means midnight Mass and Christmas dinner. Christmas means the chance to play together and visit together in a house full of hugs.

Each year, as our children and their families spread their wings and fly out on their own, family becomes even more treasured. As careers take them far away from home, we wish them well and are proud that they are independent and responsible adults. And we realize how precious their growing-up time was.

Christmas in our family is full of tradition; it warms our hearts to see these traditions evolve as our children and their families create their own traditions, building on the memories of Christmas past.

Mary Jo Steidler,

Bismarck

Dear Bismarck Tribune:

"Is there a Santa Claus?" you ask. Come with me on an imaginary quest. Hopefully, you will find an answer to your question.

There she sat on Santa's lap, looking straight into his eyes. Santa smiled at her and asked, "What's your name, honey?"

"My name is Virginia, and you're not real," she retorted. "Kids at school say you're a big fake. Your beard is fake, and your belly is fake, too. If I pulled on it, your beard would come off like a Halloween mask. And if I pushed on your belly, it would be soft because pillows are stuck in your pants and shirt to make you look fat."

A surprised Santa responded to her charges. "Well, Virginia," he said, "you are right about my beard and belly, but you are wrong about my being real. I am real, Virginia. I am one of Santa's many helpers."

Disappointed and sad, Virginia slipped from Santa's lap and quietly whispered, "You're only a pretend Santa."

At home, Virginia's mother rocked her gently and suggested, "Let's focus on the real meaning of Christmas. When you help serve at 'The Banquet,' you are keeping Christmas. When you and Daddy ring bells for the Salvation Army, you are keeping Christmas. Whenever you demonstrate acts of love and kindness toward others, you are keeping Christmas."

Before her mother could say another word, Virginia sobbed, "Oh, Mommy, you just don't understand. I really wanted to believe that Santa Claus is real."

Virginia's father, who was listening to his wife and daughter's conversation, said, "My dearest Virginia, I will tell you something that you can believe. I promise you that every Christmas morning under our tree there will always be a present for you from Santa."

"Oh, thank you, Daddy," a jubilant Virginia exclaimed. "So there really is a Santa Claus?"

Glancing at her husband with a warm smile and giving her daughter a loving hug, Virginia's mother said, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!"

Our pretend Virginia found her answer. I trust you did, too.

Fanny Lee Seville,

Bismarck