<p>Christmas is still going strong for 14-year-old Nick Waters.</p><p>A decorated tree still greets the steady stream of visitors to his home and holiday cards still line the walls of the hallway _ and the living room, and the kitchen and every other room in the house.</p><p>When his church asked Nick what he wanted for Christmas, the boy who was born with no arms and the inability to speak slowly typed out his reply with his feet: Lots of Christmas cards.</p><p>To make things interesting, he asked for 10,000.</p><p>With the help of his church _ and a worldwide appeal on the Internet _ Nick has been deluged with more than 130,000 cards and they keep coming.</p><p>"He could have asked for anything," said Nick's mother, Penny Waters. "He could have asked for a swimming pool. He just wanted cards and mail."</p><p>Family members say the outpouring has lifted Nick's spirits, resulting in the first Christmas he hasn't been hospitalized with complications from his Holt-Oram Syndrome, a congenital disorder that causes abnormalities of the arms and heart.</p><p>"To see him the month of December, it was like a different child," he mother said. "His color looks good. It was the best Christmas ever."</p><p>And neither Nick nor his family see it ending any time soon. Each day, friends and church members gather at the family's home in this town 35 miles north of Atlanta to help handle all the mail. They form a circle in the living room with Nick sitting in the middle, taking delight as envelopes are opened and cards are read.</p><p>"He knew before we knew that this was going to bring in people," Penny Waters said. "He's social. He's all about that. He knew that behind every card is a person."</p><p>Unopened cards are stacked waist-high in postal bins in the dining room, a closet and the garage.</p><p>As the cards poured in, Nick's family _ including father, Charles, and sisters Tabitha, 19, and Kasey, 13 _ filled in a map, marking each state where a card had been mailed. South Dakota and Alaska were the last two postmarks to pass through the door.</p><p>Cards also have come from around the world _ Ethiopia, Israel, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia and Canada.</p><p>Nick received a letter and package from the U.S. Secret Service, complete with photos of President Bush, Air Force One, and White House pets Barney and Willie. He has cards from the Wake Forest University basketball team, the NBA's Orlando Magic, Miss Utah and even a man claiming to be Elvis.</p><p>Nick's favorites are the homemade cards "because they come from kids," his mother said.</p><p>In many cards are messages from others who say they have been inspired by Nick's brave fight and his simple Christmas wish.</p><p>"He's probably touched more lives in a month than we'll touch in a lifetime," said Darrell Cheek, a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Woodstock who helped organize the effort.</p><p>In recent years, Nick has been hospitalized over the holidays with infections, nerve damage and spasms caused by spinal surgery in 2000.</p><p>Before that surgery, Nick had been able to attend school, but he lost his ability to eat, stand and move his head. He has regained some movement in his feet, but he types much more slowly.</p><p>More often, he communicates through buttons at the base of his wheelchair which activate computer-simulated voice responses, including "Yes," "No," "Hi, how are you" and "I'm fine."</p><p>When possible, Nick occassionally attends class at Dean Rusk Middle School in Canton. His principal, Bob Eddy, said he is inspired by Nick's positive attitude and perseverance.</p><p>"I'm a former wrestling coach and I thought I knew tough kids, but I haven't worked with anybody as tough as this guy," he said.</p><p>Nick's toughness will be tested again. He is tentatively scheduled to soon have a pump put in his spine to get his pain under control.</p><p>So far, the best pain relief has been all the Christmas cards.</p><p>"People ask 'What are you going to do when this ends?'" Penny said before answering "Keep praying."</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2863ac0)</p>
