In honor of the beginning of the holiday season, and recognizing what I believe is possibly a miracle – my achieving an actual permanent mortgage modification – I have structured this post in the vein of the letter to the editor of the New York Sun and the answer, which appeared in the publication on September 21, 1897 – otherwise known as, “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” With a nod to Francis P. Church, no copyright infringement is intended.
Dear Editor: I am 45 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Mortgage Modification.
The Government said, “If we give the banks the money, it will be so.”
Please tell me the truth; is there a Mortgage Modification?
Virginia
Home Owner
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they can see in the paperwork FedExed to them. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by the bankers’ little minds. All minds, whether they be politicians’ or bankers’, are little. In this great universe of ours, it may seem as if a mortgage holder is a mere insect, an ant in his power and importance, as compared with the wealthy and powerful banks around him. But tenacity can make one capable of grasping the elusive modification.
The original clipping
Yes Virginia, there is a Mortgage Modification. It exists as certainly as faith, persistence and chutzpah exist, and you know that they abound and give you power and strength. Alas! How dreary home ownership could be these days if there were no possibility of Mortgage Modification. It would be as dreary as if there were no homes. There would be no American dream of home ownership, no kitchen tables for families to gather around, no backyards for children to play in, no warm fireplaces to make tolerable the winter. The eternal light with which homeowners these days keep hope would be extinguished.
Not believe in Mortgage Modification! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might sit on hold on the phone all day, but even if you never got to speak with the same person twice, or they once again, lost your paperwork, what would that prove? Very few people actually receive a modification, but that is no sign that it does not exist. The most real things in the world are those which you believe in and work hard for. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unimaginable in the world.
Only faith, persistence, tenacity, belief, whining, threats, applications, letters to the Attorney General, media coverage and accepting help can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it real? Ah, Virginia, in this moment there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Mortgage Modification! Thank God! It’s achievable and it’s achievable for you. Thirty years from now, it will continue to make glad the heart of a homeowner.
My Own Adventure 
Reblogged this on My Own Adventure and commented:
I reblog this each year, 3 years after the original posting to remind those struggling that it is a temporary situation and to remind others that some are still struggling. Please enjoy.
Reblogged this on My Own Adventure and commented:
I reblog this every year around this time to get you in the holiday spirit. To remind those going through tough times that the situation is not permanent. Situations can change in an instant. To remind people that, although you might not see it, there are people struggling. Help when you can. Be kind always.