Thanksgiving

I know, I know, Thanksgiving is two months away. But you wait and see, it will be here before we can blink our eyes!

I love Thanksgiving -- still. I was and is my favorite holiday. I hate it, though, when it is referred to as "turkey day." No, folks, it's Thanksgiving. A day for giving thanks.

Growing up we had no choice. There was...church. You know, around here (in northern KY) there is not a single church that is open on Thanksgiving.

Anyway, every Thanksgiving morning (including the mornings of the final high school football games of the season) we were in church from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nowadays, I know women would balk at that. After all we have all that cooking to do, right? But my mom and all the women at Mt. Calvary didn't complain, at least not so anyone would hear them. And, what was the purpose of the Thanksgiving service? To give thanks for God's blessing from the past year. EVERYONE stood up and either said a Bible verse, or said, "I'm thankful for..." Some people were more long-winded than others, but at 11:00 a.m. a person's opportunity to give thanks was over. The service was over and we went home, after singing: We gather together. (http://wilstar.com/holidays/wegather.htm)

Most years we had Thanksgiving dinner at our home, but for a few years we all went to Aunt Annie's house (in Springfield, PA). And what a dinner it was. It was one the day we had all the treats we didn't get the rest of the year. OLIVES, home-made pie, peas and onions in a cream sauce, sweet potatoes.

It was also the day that my father said a grace that lasted so long, the food got cold. First he read one of the "thankful" psalms. Then he would say, "Bow your heads," which, of course, we did. We were hungry. It was almost 1 o'clock and we'd been up since around 7 a.m. Anyway, he started to pray and he was thankful, boy was he thankful. He thanked the Lord for each child (he had four), his wife, his wife's family (individually named, and my mom came from a large Italian family), etc. Just when you thought he was finished, he'd start up again, thanking God for each item of food that was on the table.

Well, by this time, Aunt Annie could contain herself no more, and she started snickering. Being the good PKs we were, we didn't peek (yeah, right!) and when Aunt Annie started snickering, well, it snowballed. Dad seemed oblivious to the laughter as he continued, and continued, and continued, and the gravy started to gel!

Eventually, he stopped being thankful, and we were able to eat -- and eat we did. Always, we were stuffed, and dessert waited until later in the afternoon. While we were digesting our food we either looked at pictures (this was when we were at Aunt Annie's) or play ping-pong -- when we had Thanksgiving at our house, we usually went outside (and it was always cold on Thanksgiving, and I can even remember snow on the ground) and played. I probably walked my dolly around the block in her coach, with my sister tagging along. Then around 4 o'clock we'd sit down and have dessert.

The feast didn't end with dessert, no siree. We had to have our supper-- usually around 7 p.m. And that was leftovers. Not heated up leftovers, just cold leftovers, but you know what? Those cold leftovers were wonderful. Most adults made sandwiches with the leftover turkey. I just ate the cold turkey and cold stuffing and if there were any left, olives. Yummmmm!

After that, we were all exhausted. We cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, put the few left over leftovers away (I said that correctly -- there were leftovers still remaining), and we either went back to Runnemede, or all the family left for their places of abode.

Who attended these feasts? The Drexlers, the Sbaraglias (my mom's brother's family), the Egittos (Aunt Annie's family), and several of the Evangelista's (Aunt Daisy's family). If the Boylls were up from Tennessee (very rarely, until Betty and Dan went to Philadelphia College of Bible), they joined us as well. The Boylls were Aunt Fran's family. Aunt Fran was one of my mom's sisters, as was Aunt Daisy.

I hope I didn't leave anyone out. When TV became more popular, those football games took over the afternoons, at least for the boys and men. But that was okay. We women-folk had plenty to do -- no dishwashers back then, and when we were little, my sister and I, and my cousin Joan just did girly things.

I tried to start that type of tradition when my children were growing up -- we were so far from my family, and Alan's family was scattered all over the country. We usually invited some of the neighborhood kids over in the afternoon to play table games, and stay for "leftover" supper. After the children all married, they had other families to visit. Many of those years when my children were growing up, we went to Royal Center, IN to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my brother, Mark, and his family. They were very special times for our family.

Two years ago, we had a Thanksgiving reunion, sort of. All my children, and my brother and one of his children (Lori and her family) came to spend the weekend here in northern KY. We had dinner at Cyndi's house. I think we had a good time. You see, I don't remember much of the weekend, because I had a mini-stroke, and all memory of our time together is erased from my mind. But the children tell me it was a great time. We apparently played games after dinner -- NO FOOTBALL.

I must add that for a few years we went to the Stamper family Thanksgiving dinner, and I am so grateful for those invitations, since those years were years when Alan was recovering from bone marrow cancer, and all the children were at their spouse's families. They were a special blessing for me and Alan.

So, folks, with Thanksgiving coming up -- remember the purpose of the day is to be thankful for all our blessings -- which in truth should be a daily remembrance. God's Word says to gives thanks for everything, and the day of the year isn't mentioned, so one has to assume it's a daily attitude.