A special Christmas portrait Letter to the editor...`A community with a big heart'

Kyle Benoit and his wife Donna wanted a picture of their two sons Aidan, 2, (left) and Nathan, three months, with Santa Claus this year but Aidan's delicate health made getting the photo problematic-- until staff at the Georgetown Market Place stepped in. When Kyle brought a letter, thanking mall staff, to The Independent & Free Press Tuesday we were so moved by his story that we asked the Benoits to let us share their special photo with our readers.

Dear editor, When my husband and I started our family three years ago we decided we wanted to raise our children in a smaller community than we grew up in. We brought our bundle of joy here to Georgetown. In August of this year we were crushed with the news that our beautiful son had cancer. I was also 35 weeks pregnant with our second child. While our son was receiving his second round of chemotherapy at the Hospital for Sick Children, I was giving birth to his baby brother across the street at Mount Sinai. He is still currently receiving treatment and has a weakened immunity. One wish we had for this Christmas was to have a photo of our two sons together with Santa. We called Georgetown Market Place and our wish was granted. Santa met us early before the mall had opened and all the shoppers arrived carrying potential germs that could make our son very sick. We want to extend our thanks to the fabulous mall management, specifically Herminia Henderson, Wendy Weatherall, Georgetown Photo and, of course, Santa, for making this possible for our family. We know we made the right choice coming to this small community with a big heart. The Benoit family, Georgetown