Charlotte, my dear goddaughter, Merry Christmas! Your first one, are you excited?

Dec. 25 is a very special day, honey. Besides being showered with gifts, and rightly so, it is the day Jesus was born many, many years ago, even before your mother and I were born and, as you know, we're very old.

Your mother has probably told you a lot about the big J.C.-that's what his best friends called him. He was a very special person, you know. Not as special as you, of course, but nonetheless a VIP all the way. He always got into the best clubs and threw the best parties. Everyone liked him.

From conception, Jesus was a special tyke. After all, he was welcomed into this world by angels singing on high, three wise drag queens and tons of presents! It reminds me of the first time I saw you. You probably don't remember, but I brought you tons of goodies from Baby Gap and Old Navy. Oh, you looked so cute.

You know how your mom teaches Grandma how to use the DVD player? Well, Jesus had a few lessons to teach his elders, too. He was a smart kid. No doubt you will be, too. Is your mother still reading to you? Knowledge is power, don't forget.

Yeah, that Jesus was a cool guy. Later, when he was older and could drink-I swear I better NOT find you drinking anything but your bottle-he turned water into wine. He fed hundreds with just a few pieces of fish. He made the blind see. He made the dead alive, again. He could do whatever he wanted to do.

Do you know how he did all of these wonderful things? Well, his dad, God, gave him three amazing tools. Hope, faith and love. And with those things he was able to do the most amazing things.

The good news is, God gave us those tools, too. And we don't even have to wait to unwrap them on Christmas!

Charlie, the world is full people who want to see you fail. Even as popular as Jesus was, there were still people who wanted to see him dead. But he never gave up. You see, he had hope in himself. That hope kept him going during the roughest times. He once had to go 40 days without anything to eat or drink. Can you imagine? I mean, most of us can't even go 40 minutes.

You know that feeling you get when you poopy in your pants? That feeling of despair, disgust ... it stinks, doesn't it? Still, you know, no matter how horrible it is, your mom or I-OK, your mom-will change your diaper very soon. Well, that's called faith. There are going to be very dark days ahead, Charlie, but as long as you believe and trust in God, like Jesus did when God told him he had to die, everything will be OK-even better.

Are you eating all your vegetables? Oh, that's right. You don't have teeth yet.

More important than teeth and eating your veggies, above all Charlie, is love. It's the coolest and most valuable gift anyone can give you. It will never run out of batteries. So why not use it?

What is love, you ask? Love is the most primal function we humans have.

Be honest and selfless and all will be fine. That's what Jesus taught us. So did his pals Aristotle, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, etc. But that's for another day ...

Some people will tell you we are born sinners, haters and players. But this simply is not true. We do not understand hate until we stop loving. Evil does not exist until good is gone. So, Silly, my best suggestion to you is not to stop loving.

You know, your mom has done plenty of goofy things. I'll tell you all about her angst when you get older. But know this: I never gave up on her. I always loved her and always will. She's my best friend and we just don't desert each other like that. Just like I'll never leave your side.

Just like Jesus has never left our side.

May all your Christmas dreams come true, Charlie. And may there be peace and good will toward all men and women.