Remembering To Be Thankful
I had a dream last night about Thanksgiving past. In my dream I was much younger then I am now probably around 10 or so. I think that was one of the best holidays that I spent with my grandmother and family. Of course they always had the kids table at my grandmother's house which was a flowered card table she got at a thrift store that was in excellent shape. It was heavier then most card tables and had a fabric flowered design on the top and white legs. At the time her house had a dinning room and right off of the dinning room was a little alcove that sat near the back door like a little nook that my grandmother painted the walls yellow for the grand kids. It was always bright and cheerful. She would set it just like the big table in the dinning room for the adults and we were thrilled to sit there. Mainly because we had just enough privacy to talk without our parents hearing everything we said since most of the time we were talking about them. Back then it was just four of us at the kid table. My sister, myself and two cousins. My mom had the two girls and my aunt, her sister had the two boys. Everyone was 3 years apart. I was 3 years older then my sister who was 3 years older then my oldest boy cousin who was 3 years older then his brother. We used to tell each other things, the things that we hadn't told each other at any other time of the year. It was sort of crazy because at the time we lived literally ten feet from each other. They lived in the front of the duplex and we lived in the back until they moved to a house 4 blocks away. So, we saw each other all the time and hung out all the time with each other.
At the adult table was always my parents, my cousins parents, my grandmother, my step grandfather, my step grandfather's mom and every once in a while my uncle who lived out of town back then would show up with a date and he would sit there two. My grandmother had to always find a couple more chairs from the basement when he came up. Usually she would have us go to the creepy basement, that is what we called it because it always had more spiders down there then we had fingers and toes and nobody like to go down there. But,if she told us too we would and we would have to find the extra chairs that would always be in the very back and we would have to wade through tons of spider webs to get to them. But, we pulled them out and she washed them off and there you had it two extra chairs that were mismatched from the other dinning room chairs when my uncle came but nobody seemed to mind or care.
The turkey was always seemed to get bigger and bigger over the years. I think that my step grandfather's eyes were bigger then his oven sometimes. But, that was him. Go big or don't go at all. My grandmother would make sure that we, the kids, got our plates first and then the adults were served. My step grandfather would always ask everyone if they wanted dark or white meat. I always told him both because I like the taste of both on my plate covered with gravy and stuffing. My aunt and uncle would always say they wanted white meat and my mom would do both. My dad would say he didn't care which ever was easiest and usually ended up with white meat. After dinner my step grandfather would put away the turkey and make space for the pies. He had one bakery he would go to every year and get the pies. Pumpkin chiffon pie and minced meat pie. He would get two of each. Sometimes there would be some extra pastries but usually just the pies. The only people who would even go near the minced meat pies were him and my dad. Everyone else had pumpkin. After my dad died he still got the two minced meat pies and he would try to convince me that I should give it a try and one year I did. That was the last time I had minced meat pie ever.
My grandmother was not too big on Thanksgiving decorations for the table. One year she did have a turkey made of some type of paper that opened up like an accordion in the middle of the table but when it was time to put the food on the table the paper turkey got moved for the real turkey. I don't remember anything else being on the table for the most part but the food and the plates and silverware and of course the cloth napkins which we used to spread on our laps because we were told that was the "proper" thing to do although my cousin used to tie his around his mouth like a bandit and always got in trouble for it. He got the "look" from the adult table and quickly removed it and put it on his lap.
Thanksgiving has not been the same since they passed away about 11 years ago. Thanksgiving this year at my house will be small. There will be no need and really no room for a kid table since there is only one kid and no extra table. I honestly don't know how or i we will even be eating at the table in the kitchen. There's not a lot of space. So, I am not seeing a sit down everyone at the table Thanksgiving. I am seeing a more buffet style dinner.
But, I do remember that it was very different a few years ago. Probably when my son was around 2 or so we lived in my grandmother's house for a short while after she died. And the furnace was not working. It had went out on Thanksgiving morning along with the stove. Well, we had no heat and the only way to have dinner that year was to buy it already cooked and heat it on the BBQ grill outside on the patio. It was just my mom, my sister, my nephew, son and brother. We ate that year and it was like camping out on the patio and having Thanksgiving dinner at the campground. It was surprisingly fun. In the end it really did not matter where we ate or what we ate or how cold we were or how ridiculous we must have looked to the neighbors whose backyard over looked ours we were just some happy campers and glad that we were all together with a roof over our heads to celebrate another year and give thanks for what we had. Each other. And after all, that is what the holiday is supposed to be about right?
At the adult table was always my parents, my cousins parents, my grandmother, my step grandfather, my step grandfather's mom and every once in a while my uncle who lived out of town back then would show up with a date and he would sit there two. My grandmother had to always find a couple more chairs from the basement when he came up. Usually she would have us go to the creepy basement, that is what we called it because it always had more spiders down there then we had fingers and toes and nobody like to go down there. But,if she told us too we would and we would have to find the extra chairs that would always be in the very back and we would have to wade through tons of spider webs to get to them. But, we pulled them out and she washed them off and there you had it two extra chairs that were mismatched from the other dinning room chairs when my uncle came but nobody seemed to mind or care.
The turkey was always seemed to get bigger and bigger over the years. I think that my step grandfather's eyes were bigger then his oven sometimes. But, that was him. Go big or don't go at all. My grandmother would make sure that we, the kids, got our plates first and then the adults were served. My step grandfather would always ask everyone if they wanted dark or white meat. I always told him both because I like the taste of both on my plate covered with gravy and stuffing. My aunt and uncle would always say they wanted white meat and my mom would do both. My dad would say he didn't care which ever was easiest and usually ended up with white meat. After dinner my step grandfather would put away the turkey and make space for the pies. He had one bakery he would go to every year and get the pies. Pumpkin chiffon pie and minced meat pie. He would get two of each. Sometimes there would be some extra pastries but usually just the pies. The only people who would even go near the minced meat pies were him and my dad. Everyone else had pumpkin. After my dad died he still got the two minced meat pies and he would try to convince me that I should give it a try and one year I did. That was the last time I had minced meat pie ever.
My grandmother was not too big on Thanksgiving decorations for the table. One year she did have a turkey made of some type of paper that opened up like an accordion in the middle of the table but when it was time to put the food on the table the paper turkey got moved for the real turkey. I don't remember anything else being on the table for the most part but the food and the plates and silverware and of course the cloth napkins which we used to spread on our laps because we were told that was the "proper" thing to do although my cousin used to tie his around his mouth like a bandit and always got in trouble for it. He got the "look" from the adult table and quickly removed it and put it on his lap.
Thanksgiving has not been the same since they passed away about 11 years ago. Thanksgiving this year at my house will be small. There will be no need and really no room for a kid table since there is only one kid and no extra table. I honestly don't know how or i we will even be eating at the table in the kitchen. There's not a lot of space. So, I am not seeing a sit down everyone at the table Thanksgiving. I am seeing a more buffet style dinner.
But, I do remember that it was very different a few years ago. Probably when my son was around 2 or so we lived in my grandmother's house for a short while after she died. And the furnace was not working. It had went out on Thanksgiving morning along with the stove. Well, we had no heat and the only way to have dinner that year was to buy it already cooked and heat it on the BBQ grill outside on the patio. It was just my mom, my sister, my nephew, son and brother. We ate that year and it was like camping out on the patio and having Thanksgiving dinner at the campground. It was surprisingly fun. In the end it really did not matter where we ate or what we ate or how cold we were or how ridiculous we must have looked to the neighbors whose backyard over looked ours we were just some happy campers and glad that we were all together with a roof over our heads to celebrate another year and give thanks for what we had. Each other. And after all, that is what the holiday is supposed to be about right?
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