The Christmas I was seven,  I have nothing but happiest of memories about. 

That year of all wonderful things we somehow got to be in Virginia on Christmas Eve.  Usually, we had to wait until at least Christmas Day to head out from Tennessee because of my dad's church commitment , but this year was different. 

We were at the home of our grandparents on my dad's side of the family, the Wagners in Mudford, Virginia.  Now Mudfork  is not easily accessible under any circumstance.  Near Pocahontas and West Virginia coal mining , the road to the Wagner homeplace from the highway was a one-laner with hairpin curves.  A stout heart was needed for driving and even riding as a passenger, with my dad using the horn to signal oncoming drivers. 

My Paw-Paw had put up the Christmas tree, as he usually did, with multi-colored lights, icicles, and Christmas balls in the living room.  I remember playing some Christmas carols on the piano that evening that I had picked out in my own crude way, never having had lessons or a piano at home.  My brother Jim was a two-year old toddler that year. 

What Santa was going to bring him was not important to me, of course, as my attention was all on what I would get.  I had asked for a pretty doll in a beautiful outfit that could open and shut her eyes and combable hair.  My mother helped me set out some cookies and milk for Santa.  I was indeed so happy we were at my grandparents' house because they had a chimney and we didn't in Tennessee.

As I recall it was a pretty laid back evening.  I kept looking out the window to see whether Santa was getting close.  My aunt Eunice, my best pal when we would visit, was excited too.  Aunt Eunice was what we would call today learning disabled.  Though she was 14 years older than me, we were closer in age and activities due to her condition.     

Finally Christmas morning arrived and I got to slip downstairs before even my Paw-Paw had fired the furnace.  There she was -- my new doll dressed in the prettiest outfit I had ever seen!  Her dress was green trimmed in lace with a little corsage of artificial flowers at her waist.  She had on shoes that I could remove, and you could also comb her hair. 

 For breakfast we had country ham and eggs with homemade biscuits made by my grandmother.  It was with my Paw-Paw that I had my first tastes of coffee.  I remember he would add plenty of sugar and fresh cream and pour a bit in a saucer for me to enjoy. 

After breakfast my Paw-Paw would light his pipe.  Later that day, of course, my grandmother with my mom's help set out a Christmas dinner.  My Maw-Maw was a really good cook.  One thing I loved that she made was her hot rolls.  My mother would have brought cake from Tennessee.

The following day we left Mudfork to travel four hours to Redwood, Virginia to be with my mom's family.  There we would celebrate Christmas all over again!  They always waited for us to arrive to have their Christmas.

Here is an audio story about me at age 7 that I placed in a Shoebox for our granddaughter Nikki.

 http://legacystories.org/component/uploadmusic/?controller=comment&task=add&cid[0]=168e.