Christmas has changed with age
Linda Lee Dreher doesn’t remember Christmas Eve 1948, but she recalls the “beautiful fireplace” in her family home and the white rocking chair she sat in with her younger sister as they waited for Santa Claus.
It all comes back to her when she sees the photo that ran on the front page of the Butler Eagle that evening. It captured the 5-year-old Dreher, now Linda Eross, holding her 1-year-old sister, Susan, in front of the fireplace. She said people who knew her family raved about the picture and how cute it was.
Eross, who is now 82 years old and lives in Gibsonia, said she doesn’t recollect specifics from the time, but remembers Christmas was always good for her family.
“Our parents were generous with us. Our grandparents were really generous,” Eross said. “There were always lots of presents at Christmastime. I think we were loved very much.”
Eross is the oldest of six children. Her youngest sisters weren’t born until she was in her 20s. She said, as the eldest child, she was almost like a third parent to her siblings and she remains close to them all.
“The way you feel like you want to do everything you can for them,” she said of being the eldest sibling. “We get together now, and I love all of them dearly.”
As for the presents she received, Eross said there are a few she remembers for being unique and she recalls what she got when she reached the double digits.
“When we were littler, I remember I got a Black baby doll — my parents were not prejudiced in any way,” Eross said. “As we got older, we got bikes and things like that. Things change as you age.”
