At midnight there was a huge buffet of turkey and chicken salad, a vegetable salad, a variety of tiny sandwiches, usually a hot Olympia oyster stew and then a variety of sweets. The late buffet made it certain that guests would linger for hours. Occasionally they were joined by people dropping by after midnight Mass, and the talk and the sipping of holiday potables—including tea—continued till early morning. I often crept away upstairs without anyone’s noticing and fell into my bed. Despite my fatigue, I can think of no better way to have been initiated into the world of Christmas than this
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