Christmas 1949

Christmas 1949
December 24, 1949….12:20 P.M. EST
“There’s no Santa; Mom and Dad are Santa.” Butch tells me as we build a snowman in the back yard at 514 Church Street in Saint Bernard, Ohio.
We live with Grandma Talon. Grandma Talon has a two story white clap-board house with a big fenced in back yard full of flowers during the spring and summer, a stone fish pond and an arboretum. There is a wood porch across the full front of the house with a swing on one end. Inside the front door is a large foyer with the only closet on the ground floor. There are steps on the right leading to two bedrooms and a bath upstairs, there is even a small kitchen in one of the bedrooms. This is where Grandma Talon lives. Down stairs the living room and dinning room are large with hardwood floors covered with flowered area rugs. There’s a small kitchen with a Formica top kitchen table and four chairs, a full bath and an enclosed back porch. Mom and Dad sleep in what used to be the dining room, and Butch and I sleep on an enclosed back porch on two steel cots. We all keep our hang-up clothes in the front hall closet. We don’t have a refrigerator; we have an icebox on the outside back porch off the kitchen that the Iceman fills twice a week in the summer and once a week in the winter with a big block of ice.“Yes there is a Santa Claus,” the Iceman says as he climbs the back porch with a block of ice. “Don’t listen to your brother.”
“Yah, your wrong Santa is coming tonight and he’s bringing me presents.” I shout at Butch.
Butch doesn’t say anything, not wanting to get the Iceman any further involved in his big brother revelation.
He waits until the Iceman leaves us with a jolly reassurance. “I’m sure Santa will come to see you, Merry Christmas.”
“I can prove it; I can prove that Mom and Dad are Santa.”
“No you can’t.”
“Yes, I can; come with me.” We go in the back door, through the kitchen, through Mom and Dads bedroom and into the living room. Butch climbs up on the sofa that’s against the wall and looks over the back. “Look here!”
I climb up on the sofa and look over the back. To my surprise and confusion there are six or eight Christmas presents all wrapped in pretty Christmas paper. I am speechless; I twist my body and sit on the sofa, legs dangling above the floor.
I sit looking at the decorated tree not knowing what to think. “How could this be, Mom and Dad are Santa, Christmas isn’t for real?”
Grandma Talon comes down the steps and with a harsh voice tells me to go back outside. “I have a lot of work to do to get ready for tonight’s dinner.”
The cousins come to the house and we have a big Christmas Dinner on a long table set up in what used to be the dinning room but now is Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Everyone is happy and loud. “There is more to Christmas then just Santa.”
“What’s that noise, on the roof?” Dad interrupts the loud talk. No one says anything; everyone listens and looks to the ceiling. “Thump, Thump, Thump,” a sound form the front porch.
“Kid there’s someone on our porch, go see who’s making all that noise.”
Five of us run to the door, Butch opens the door and makes a quick back step retreat. “It’s Santa! He’s huge!” He’s wearing a red suit with white trim, big black boots and bells ringing as he stepped in the door. “He’s Huge.” He has a large bag over his shoulder which I know was filled with presents. “It’s Santa, there is a Santa, he’s right her in our house. He’s huge!”
I look at Butch, he’s in shock; he’s backed against the wall staring at Santa in amazement. Santa pushes his way into the living room give a few “Ho, Ho’s”, asks if we’ve all been good, empties his bag of gifts on the floor and passes out one to each of us kids. “You kids have been so good this year that I’ve got more presents for you, I couldn’t get them all on my sleigh so I came last night and hid the rest of them over here.”
Santa walks over to the sofa and with Dad’s help moves it away from the wall, bends over and retrieved more presents.
I look at Butch. His eyes are wide and sparkling; he’s staring at Santa, his mouth hanging open, his hands fumbled with the wrapping on his present.
I lean closer. “There is a Santa Claus.”