My Favorite Childhood Christmas Memory

Growing up down in NC during the sixties, life was slow and easy. As a child, there were no video games or IPods to take us away from whatever event we were attending. Going to my Grandma's house was always the highlight of any day, whether it was Christmas or a sunny summer day. It always seemed like a different world at Christmas at her house. She always had her fireplace roaring and her house was almost magical in my eyes. Christmas always started 2 days before Christmas.

We would show up at her house, early in the morning to all the wonderful smells of fresh coffee and bacon cooking on her stove. Big hugs were the norm and her wonderful smile was like a beacon of love to me. She would laugh and say, Rosey, are you ready to get Christmas going? I would squeeze her and say, Yes Maam.....

She always had everything organized, so that by Christmas Day, there were lots of pies, cakes, cookies and more. The first day was cookie and cake day. We would go out to the chicken coop and gather fresh eggs, then pull out that big chunk of real salted butter and start baking.
There were pecans and walnuts that had to be picked up from around her trees and then cracked open and of course the coconuts had to be opened and grated. I loved cracking the nuts for all the wonderful recipes to come. She had a huge bowl that looked like it had bark around the outside. In it were a variety of the different nuts she had either grown or bought. I am not sure if I cracked more for the baking or for myself to eat.

The smells that came from her kitchen are still vivid in my mind. From chocolate walnut cookies to homemade Coconut Cake, that first day was always the best. Lots of laughter, hugs and taste testing went on from daylight to dark. This same scenario occurred the next day and into Christmas morning. I loved to spend the night with my Grandma during the Christmas holidays. She was always bustling around wrapping presents and cooking. She would sing Christmas Carols while doing her thing and seemed to really love Christmas.

Christmas at her house was always my favorite childhood memory. It truly seemed like Christmas was the most special of times, when I spent it with her.