Dear Santa,

Don't bring me new dishes,

I don't need a new kind of game.

Genealogists have peculiar wishes

For Christmas I just want a surname.

A new washing machine would be great,

But it's not the desire of my life.

I've just found an ancestor's birth date,

What I need now is the name of his wife.

My heart doesn't yearn for a ring

That would put a real diamond to shame.

What I want is a much cheaper thing;

Please give me Mary's last name.

To see my heart singing with joy,

Don't bring me a red leather suitcase,

Bring me a genealogist's toy;

A surname with dates and a place.