With Thanksgiving only two days away I start thinking about what the holiday is now and what it was when I was a kid.
We would always go to my grandparent’s house in southern Oklahoma for Thanksgiving.
We usually went down on Wednesday evening arriving in time for a late supper with the family.
The house would already smell of wonderful pies and cakes already baked ready for the big day. My grandmother was born and raised in Mississippi so a good old southern feast was in store for us. Pumpkin pie, Pecan pie, Yellow cake with chocolate icing, Fruit cobbler, Lemon Meringue Pie and more would assault my nose when I walked in and I would be told, “Stay out of the pies until tomorrow” only great fear and respect; not will power kept me out of them.
Thanksgiving morning the house was live with activity turning the dining room AND living room into one large room with a table a mile long! There were so many relatives at Thanksgiving dinner that we set “The Adult Table” in the main room and the “Kids Table” in the kitchen; I remember one year the crowd was so large that the “Kids Table” was changed into card tables and TV trays in my grandparent’s bedroom to make room for more adults in the kitchen!
Turkey, cornbread stuffing and cream gravy, ham, cream corn casserole, fresh green beans cooked in bacon, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish, preacher’s salad, relish trays with homemade pickles, okra, olives, homemade rolls, and all those deserts would almost disappear within an hour of setting down to the table.
The part I remember best of all was the entire clan gathering around the main table, joining hands, bowing our heads and saying a prayer of thanks that always included those there, those who could not make it and those no longer with us; as well as thanks for guidance, protection, and love.
So as you approach this great day of food and football; remember to stop and say that prayer of thanks for all we have and for all, all the wonderful memories and all that is to come; I know I will.
