ARVADA, Colo. — A little girl in Colorado won't have her father or her grandmother to celebrate with this holiday season. They died in a tragic house fire over the summer, but 11-year-old Brooklynn Alexander survived.
After a tough year, she wrote Santa a touching letter to Santa, asking him to ease her pain.
"Every night, I send the letters off to Santa," said Amber Klein, one of Santa's helpers in Arvada, Colorado.
Klein sees new letters arrive every day, but one particular, that was heavy and written with heartache, caught Klein's eye.
"Santa, I've been suffering from depression and my anger issues have been bad lately," Klein read from the letter. "So what I'm trying to say is I shouldn't get presents and can you please stop my sadness."
So Santa's helper went on a mission to find her through Facebook.
She tracked Brooklynn down through the social media site.
"I was sad," Brooklynn said. "And I wanted my happiness back."
After the fire that took her father and grandmother, Brooklynn was left with grief, but she wasn't alone. Klein also lost her father in a house fire.
"My dad passed away in a house fire and I immediately wanted to protect her," she said of Brooklynn .
They formed a new bond and a new wish list.
"Brooklynn loves to do crafts, so she wants paint sets (and) water colors," Klein said.
"I just want to wrap this year with a good note," Brooklynn said.
She wrote a second letter to Santa asking for letters from the public to help bring some joy. She has since received an outpouring of love and support from her community. She said it's fun seeing letters from people she doesn't even know.