Having lived my entire life in the Midwest of the United States, it's easy to assume everyone celebrates Thanksgiving in late November... but realizing that's not the case, it is a fairly safe assumption that everyone has at one time or another celebrated family feasts for various reasons. Some are religious in nature, some are national traditions, and some are simply family traditions... family reunions, times when you gather with friends and family over a good meal to reflect on family, friendship, and thankfulness for luck, bountiful harvests, or the blessings of God on our lives.
Whatever motivates you to celebrate those feasts - those times of thankfulness and celebration - what are your earliest or favorite memories of such events?
My earliest memories take me back more than 62-63 years... back when we had 5 generations of both my parents families around. My paternal grandmother owned and operated a small pie shop which provided fresh fruit pies for many of the restaurants in the surrounding communities. Each year at Thanksgiving, we would celebrate - usually at their home - along with my great-grandparents and all my aunts and uncles (I had 10 great-uncles and one great aunt on my Dad's side of the family); we would often gather around a freshly baked turkey with all the trimmings, and several of my grandma's fresh pies. Often - when weather would permit - the men of the family would walk off their feast-induced comas by rabbit hunting in the nearby countryside. More times than not, the rabbits were safe and sound and holed up in their burrows; the only things often to suffer the blast of their shotguns were an occasional pop can. I felt like one of the grown-ups when I was finally able to join them.
It's easy for the years to filter out anything not idyllic in my childhood memories, but I recall those gatherings with great fondness. This time of the year brings back such memories of gatherings of both sides of my family to celebrate life.
Please take a moment and share a treasured moment from your Thanksgiving memories.
