Picture of Nat King Cole

"I love Christmas, and our Christmas was particularly special, because it was a time when the family was all together after Dad was on the road for 350 days out of the year. He was just as caught up in the Christmas spirit as we were. He loved to get toys for us, he loved to be involved in the food. He was in the kitchen a lot, tasting, but never cooking. He always made sure we had sweet potato pie, because that was his favorite." — Natalie Cole on her father, Nat “King” Cole, photographed here with her in 1955