Staten Island Family Shares Their Festive Christmas Traditions
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One Staten Island family's Christmas feast is full of fun and tradition each year.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, this is the Christmas story of three sisters: Theresa, Roseanne, and Donna, who every year on this night bring their families together.
"This is what Christmas is to me. To have all the people I love filling this room with love and happiness," said Theresa Migliore.
The family, all 16 of them, has gathered in New Dorp for the Christmas tradition for decades.
It started with their dad Anthony and mom Palma. He died in 2005 and she died a few years later.
"It was something my parents used to do so and now I've taken over that tradition for them and now all of us," said Theresa. "There are a few things here on the table we have every year...Lasagna and stuffed pork roast."
"We also have three birthdays on Dec. 21: myself, my daughter, and my niece," added Roseanne. "We celebrate our birthday out there."
After dinner and dessert -- no matter how long that takes -- the family members move in to another room where they open presents around the tree.
Given that they have such a large family, they do it Secret Santa-style, Carlin reported.
"We put everybody's names in a sock and we all picked out a name, and we're responsible for that person. But we all buy a little something for everyone anyway," Donna said.
At the kids table, they are now getting old enough to start having kids themselves, Carlin reported. Looks like they'll always have enough food, but they'll soon need another table.
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