Thanksgiving!
A time for sitting around the table, being with family and taking a nap.
And feasting, of course.
There will be a lot of that going on Thursday!
Thanksgiving when I was growing up was a lot like everyone else’s.
You would have the traditional turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, and enough sides to start up a buffet restaurant.
Add a whole table of desserts and you had the makings of a commercial for heartburn.
You always remember the finer things in life, those memories that stick with you your whole lifetime.
Most of the time, they always go back to the holiday season, going back to the old home place, where you grew up as a youngin’.
A special time in a special place where love was always there.
I can remember pulling into my mother’s driveway, the windows on the house fogged over, because of the cooking going on in the kitchen. The outside chill in the air had you hurrying to get your addition of a covered dish, to the family meal inside.
I would open the door to the delicious odors coming from the oven. And a little old lady, we called Mama, standing in the kitchen, humming some of those old church hymns from long ago.
A quick hug and you found yourself sneaking a peek at the desserts that had been made, to decide what you wanted after you stuffed yourself.
I hear another car drive up in the driveway, then hold the door open to a few of the rest of the family that has arrived.
More food comes in, and more hugs are given. Then the parade of sisters and brothers, nephews and nieces and the list goes on and on, would get there.
By the time you finished one hug, you have about a 137 more to go.
The food is ready and a circle is formed for the Blessing. Thanks are given and we all line up to fill plates.
Plates piled high with a little of everything . . . and a side plank with more on that.
Some go back for seconds while a few more go back for thirds.
Then there’s the desserts, the German chocolate cake, the pecan pie, the sweet potato pie, the cookies, fresh coconut cake, the Carolina Chewies. A table full of home-made, lip-smacking, mouth watering, get me a plate to go sweet delicious desserts!
So you fill another plate.
By the end of that you feel like the stuffed turkey, so you wobble to the couch where you can spread out, watching the annual Thanksgiving football game.
And promptly fall asleep, mouth wide open, as others take photos of you for the scrapbook. Of course, you don’t mind a little embarrassment. After all, it’s family!
Before too long it’s time to leave, knowing that you have another meal, another family to spend time with, and more food to eat.
Like I said, by the time you finish Thanksgiving, you need to stop and pick up your favorite flavor of heartburn medicine.
We all have a lot to be thankful for!
But being thankful for all the memories is one of the best things we can have.
This Thanksgiving, when you’re all sitting around the table, share a memory, and be thankful for the ones that aren’t here anymore, the ones that left us with a heart full of those memories.
Happy Thanksgiving!