Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Thanksgiving Over the Years

  Thanksgiving traditions that seemed set in stone when I was little are fond memories 70+ years later. When we were children we were dressed up in our Sunday best and taken to Grandma’s house for the day. There we sat down to a huge meal of turkey and all the trimmings served on the company china, with lots of polished silverware, and huge heavy serving dishes to pass. Dinner at 12 pm, on the dot!  


  After the meal, the “ladies” retired to the kitchen where they chatted, washed and dried all the “good dishes” and scrubbed the pots and pans while the grandpas and Dad dozed in comfortable chairs. Weather permitting, an afternoon walk was followed by games of cribbage.


  At 6 pm (on the dot!), all the plates and silver and leftovers came out again for “supper”, followed by another session of more dishwashing in the kitchen. At last, bundled up in snow suits, we fell asleep in the cold car on the way home.  Dad carried us in to bed and when we woke up it was Friday. 




  That tradition of going to Grandma’s house changed when, just out of college, the Writer and I were married in September and I cooked my first Thanksgiving feast in November for a houseful.  


Around a makeshift table, guests sat in borrowed chairs and included the grandparents who had cooked all those Thanksgiving dinners of my childhood. 


  Much pressure for the new cook!







  No one was more astonished than I was when I produced a huge turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, vegetables, and assorted pies that all tasted delicious! 








  Subsequent Thanksgivings were spent in many different ways and places as people moved, relationships changed, another generation was added, beloved grandparents died. A most memorable holiday was the one in 1987 when I returned from Mexico, jet lagged and exhausted, on the day before Thanksgiving with two newly adopted children!


  Other unforgettable Thanksgivings have been spent serving holiday meals to Hmong, Somali and other new immigrants and homeless people in our town, followed by cleaning up after hundreds of diners.  Never have I felt more fortunate and thankful for my own blessings than when serving these people. 


  Now our children have young families, large houses, new traditions, and we are the guests. This year we will have dinner in Charleston with the families of two children, including a newborn baby. Missing will be one son in Florida with a baby due any minute, one daughter in Germany, and another in Minnesota. 



  Wherever and however (or even IF) you celebrate Thanksgiving, Thursday can be a day to reflect on and appreciate our blessings and to vow to bless and be a blessing in the lives of others in return. 




Happy Thanksgiving!

  

9 comments:

  1. Very interesting.
    I don't think your have changed all that much over the years.
    Must have been the Minnesota weather.........well the summer version, at least.
    Colin

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  2. I didn't realize you had so many children: 5 if I counted correctly. Have a wonderful time with family. We will be doing the same here with 10 at the table.

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  3. The Thanksgiving celebrations have definitely changed. We still take time to think about things we ae thankful for. Have a great Thanksgiving.

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  4. Have a lovely day.
    Good memories there, and people sure have changed the times for these type of feasts.

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  5. Happy Thanksgiving, Cynthia, and thanks especially for the history lesson. Never having grown up in this tradition it was interesting to read. The women must have been exhausted by the end of the day!

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  6. What lovely reflections Cynthia and yes the Thanksgiving you return with your children would have been amazing. I hope this years Thanksgiving celebrations are fabulous! Wren x

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  7. A very interesting post for me as we don't celebrate Thanksgiving Day but we do all that stuff at Christmas. You have an interesting family spread around the world and country. No way I could cook a dinner like that.

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  8. Your early thanksgivings were much like mine. Except I was in the kitchen washing dishes! We not only went on Thanksgiving we almost always went on Sunday for a big meal, I am not sure how my grandmother did it. Congratulations on your new Grands how exciting is that!! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  9. I'm so impressed with your kindness to the new immigrants and homeless. It's spreading thankfulness to everyone and including those who aren't able to enjoy it otherwise. You certainly are a World Wise family.

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