Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, so much so that I have refused to listen to a Christmas carol or even talk about Christmas until after Thanksgiving has passed. Each of us have both good and difficult memories when it comes to holidays but for me memories of family gathering together fills me full of joy and happiness.
Memories of eating way too many mashed potatoes with gravy and then there was the apple pie that I always tried to sneak in an extra piece of when no one was looking. The memory that is the most poignant from when I was growing up was listening to my mom planning and preparing what we would have for dinner that day. I remember all of the sounds and smells which began long before we would be sitting down to enjoy the meal. The memory that stands out the most was when my mom would put the turkey in her sea glass green roasting pan and put the turkey in the oven to cook at 200 degrees overnight. She got up every hour on the hour to baste the turkey to ensure that is wasn’t going to be dry. I can close my eyes and the years roll back and I am 10 years old again.
The years have raced by and my own family is grown with families of their own and we still carry on the tradition of carefully planning,preparing and presenting all of our best dishes for that small window set aside where we make time stop so we can enjoy each other briefly before we have to return to reality once again.
I hope that as Thanksgiving approaches that you will give thought to what makes each of you thankful for all your many blessings. My mom use to say when I was complaining about something...remember there are others who have a lot less to be thankful for than you.