My Aunt Willie is such a character. You will never meet anyone more precious and giving. She told me of the Christmas of 1945, the one she will always remember, when she was 7 years old. A new baby had been born on the 21st, and now there were 12 children in the family. Christmas was simple. A peppermint stick, an orange and some apples would be found hanging in the stockings.

The country church had its Christmas play, and when Santa walked in, he frightened Willie, who went jumping over benches to get away. On the walk home that evening, Santa emerged from the cornfield with a sack of oranges on his back. Willie ran home as fast as she could and jumped in bed with her mama and the new baby. Santa Claus came walking into the house, straight over to the bed and gave Willie two dimes. She threw them back at him and crawled under the bed. She stayed under the bed until Santa left.

Years later she found out Santa was her daddy. Her mama had taken white feed sacks and dyed them red and made the Santa suit.

Phyllis Edwards, Union Mills, Rutherford EMC