Christmas is for Children

When I was a child, I lived in a house directly behind my Grandparents. Christmas Eve was when the entire family gathered at Grandpa and Grandma George’s for a very big dinner, followed by a gift exchange, followed by Bingo.
Grandma worked on Christmas Eve at the Union Department Store where she managed the ladies’ department. The Union was Morrow County Ohio’s only department store, so the chances are that most ladies’ gifts came from Grandma’s department. Scott Wheeler, the store’s owner was notorious for extracting the last sale from the last minute before the store closed, so there was no leaving early.
That meant that Grandpa Oscar, the retired sheriff, had to coordinate with his two daughters and two daughters-in-law in preparing the giant feast that would entertain at least 10 grandchildren and possibly neighbors and uninvited, but always welcome guests.
Grandma Marguerite Shoewalter George’s recipes and methods of preparation, including homemade baked goods were created as if she had done it all herself. She was a master planner, and a great teacher of cooking to her children and in-laws.
I was not cognizant about the source of her recipes and cooking style, though became aware that it had a European influence. In fact, Grandma had a pair of wooden shoes that she wore while gardening. The shoes were hand made by my Great Uncle James Shoewalter. Family research produced evidence that have them appearing as Pennsylvania Dutch, though further research shows that Shoewalters originated in Luxembourg.
The meats and salads, desserts and such all had a wonderfully rich flair, not to mention the plate filled with cheeses and pickles.
We all sat at a very large dining table in a Victorian dining room surrounded by oak woodwork and sliding oak doors that separated the room from the living room and foyer. There were at least 35 people seated with an overflow into the kitchen for younger children, and Grandpa Oscar. Since he often behaved like us, he had to sit in the kitchen.
As children, we all just wanted to move to the gift exchange, though this would take a lot of time as the adults pitched in to wash dishes. We children moved to the foyer where we slid down the banister. Usually, one of us would get sick from excitement and have to sit down for awhile.
At some point, Grandpa would disappear and after a short while Santa could be heard outside yelling “Ho, Ho, Ho,” to the neighbors.  With encouragement from Grandma, we would look out the front window to see if we could see Santa. Picture 10 children pressing their noses to the glass with parents all laughing in the background.
Santa was dressed in his traditional red attire and carried presents in a large sack. By gosh, he knocked on the porch door and Grandma answered. We all crushed to see him and he said he had to make the rounds to all our houses, but he would leave some Christmas Eve gifts for all of the children, which he did.
Everyone assembled in the living room, some seated in chairs, some on a large emerald green couch, though one special chair remained for Grandma as that was her padded rocker, and another firm wooden chair remained for Grandpa. He was late assembling and seemed to always miss seeing Santa.
Merry Christmas
YJ
Santa Tracker

[/q]