Saturday, November 24, 2007

Thanksgiving Memories

With Thanksgiving just finished, you probably remember many Thanksgiving Days from the past. What did your family do for Thanksgiving? Did you travel to your grandparent's house? Did you stay at home and just have a family celebration? Did you invite friends or other family members?
What was the menu like for your Thanksgiving Dinner? Did you have traditional dishes or did you have new and different food? Did you decorate the house for Thanksgiving? Was it cold and snowy or warm and sunny? Did you have any memorable travel experiences?

 
When I was growing up, we mostly had Thanksgiving at home with just our family. I do remember a big Thanksgiving Dinner with my grandmother and my mother's sister and her family joining us. I remember my Dad putting a board across a couple of cans to make a bench for more seating. My mother cooked several pies ahead of time. Usually, Thanksgiving was cold, but it didn't normally snow. It could be snowy though. As an adult, we often traveled to have Thanksgiving with family members when we had a four-day weekend.
My stepmother died just before Thanksgiving and her funeral was held a day or two before Thanksgiving. We were invited by my brother's friends for Thanksgiving Dinner. That was probably the most unusual Thanksgiving we had. We were appreciative of the friend's kindness, but it was still a rather solemn Thanksgiving.
Now work schedules of family members make it hard to get together. We have had late-evening dinners. We have had dinners on Friday instead of Thursday. Thanksgiving has had to become much more flexible. In some ways, it is sad that the world has changed and people have become too busy to stop and celebrate a holiday together. The work world has become twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week leaving less time for families to get together. Still, there is much to be grateful for and Thanksgiving celebrations are important even if not celebrated in the traditional way. Recording what you have done for Thanksgiving celebrations is an important part of your family history.





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