The holidays are a time of year to spend with friends and family, but 2020 has made that simple pleasure a little more difficult. Annalisse Hocking, a 7-year-old from New Hampshire, wanted nothing more for Christmas than to see her best friend Nyla. When Santa got the letter from the lonely little girl, he knew he had to do something to help. Her letter read: "Dear Santa, for Christmas I would like it to be a surprise. Please tell Nyla that I miss her. Please tell her my address."
Nyla Loftis and Annalisse became BFFs fairly quickly after Annalisse moved into town. Nyla, a year older at age 8, was especially welcoming to the little girl and the two grew to be close. However, once Nyla's family moved to a new location in February, the second graders grew apart as rapidly as they had grown together.
"I asked to see Nyla because I really missed her," Annalisse said in an interview with Nikki Battiste on CBS News.
Santa asked Annalisse's mom Lesley to reach out to the community to find Nyla. Over 100 people responded with leads on where the little girl ended up. Lesley and Sarah, Nyla's mother, planned a surprise meet-up for the two friends to see each other. The two were ecstatic to be reunited, and even more so that their wishes had gotten to Santa.
"We hugged and I couldn't talk," Nyla reported when the two rejoined. "I was speechless, I didn't know what to say."
For now, there's nothing better to say than Happy Holidays!