Holiday memories

  First day of November. The year is flying by. I'm putting away my pumpkin coaster and out comes the turkey one. November is turkey month. Thanksgiving, a day for feasting and family gatherings. Many will travel over the river and through the woods to Grandmothers house. I know, that is supposed to be Christmas, but Thanksgiving comes in number two for holiday travel, so I'm counting that. My wedding anniversary is November  19th. That happened back in '84, seems like just a few years ago though, no way it could have been forty years ago. Well, you know what they say, time flies when you're having fun. We may just have to settle down and get serious about this marriage stuff. 

  I have enjoyed many a fine Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey and ham are the usual fare. I always want to have turnips. That is about the only time in the whole year that I will have turnips, a tradition I got from my mother. She loved turnips and I acquired that taste from her. I also insist on jellied cranberry sauce, no berries please. I've had more than one Thanksgiving dinner while onboard ship during my Navy career. No turnips or cranberry sauce! Still, all the other traditional fare was bountiful. Yes, legs were available for those wanting them. I have hosted Thanksgiving dinners and been to my sons' homes as well. I wasn't aware that Thanksgiving 1970 would be my last at home with my parents in attendance. Sadly I can't say for certain when I enjoyed a Thanksgiving at home with my entire family, had to be sometime in the late 1960's. I haven't decided on this year yet. 

  I do remember a year when my fathers' brother came with his family for Thanksgiving. That was a big deal as he came all the way from Chicago. I had heard talk of this man, Elwood was his name, and how successful he was. Well, that must be true if he could afford to travel all the way from Illinois with a wife and two kids. Mostly I remember when we went to sit at the table for dinner. Now all the chairs were brought out and the ones from the kitchen  had to be used. That set of chairs had two "captains" chairs. You know the style, the back wraps around with those stiles spaces evenly around. Now Uncle Elwood was a rather large man, broad in the beam, and when he sat in that chair it seemed like the arms just exploded off. I heard a large crack, the arms went sideways. Uncle Elwood stood up and the chair went with him. A memorable Thanksgiving moment was made. Some years later I visited him at his home in Chicago. He had lost a great deal of weight and was actually quite slim. I never mentioned that incident to him but wonder if that is what inspired his weight loss. 

  As a child I was always excited for Thanksgiving because that meant Christmas was next. My mom always had plenty of mixed nuts out for the holiday and she put out dates and figs too. I was never a fan of either of those. Fig newtons is as close I get. We always had a turkey with all the dressings. Most years we didn't have company it was just us and we ate about three o'clock. There was no big football games or anything like that, we only had two channels on tv anyway. The Macy day parade was the highlight. That was always on. My brothers and I might be outside playing, or a few times hunting for pheasant. I don't recall ever shooting anything though, just carrying that shotgun around feeling like John Wayne. The next day the thanksgiving decorations came down, there weren't many. I do remember some pilgrims made out of those melted plastic chips. But that was before we started apologizing for everything. Thanksgiving was a lot more fun back then. I miss those days. A time before history ruined everything!

  That's the thing about holidays though. We all remember the holidays from our youth. We remember how it was celebrated and the stories we were told about it. My parents would talk about having a goose for Thanksgiving because Turkey's were too expensive when they were kids. They never had a goose for Thanksgiving or Christmas and I asked them why. Neither of them particularity liked goose was the answer. For me Thanksgiving will always be pilgrims and pies. I'm not concerned with the actual history, the story and the sentiment I was told is enough for me. In 1621 about fifty or so pilgrims and 90 some Indians had a feast together. They were celebrating the harvest and their friendship. That's the story. 

  No turkeys were killed in the celebration. There are those that want to take the turkey out of thanksgiving. There are those insisting that the Pilgrims didn't invite those Indians to dinner at all. The pilgrims just used them to get land and food. Why the pilgrims simply exploited them! It's what I would consider survival. I would have exploited any and all resources myself. Well whatever happened I'm happy we get to celebrate the day. That way you get a chance to decide who gets a gift for Christmas and who doesn't. Pass the turnips and who are you voting for. Both actions determine that outcome.