Thanksgiving Thoughts and Memories

I am going to try something different today. Many of my blogging friends join in this weekly "meme" called "Sunday Stealing".  Probably one of the reasons I haven't joined in before is that somehow the title "Sunday Stealing" tends to go against the grain for me...hard to think of "stealing" on Sunday! LOL. But here below is the rationale, and it is perfectly legal and entertaining at the same time. And since this week's topic is about Thanksgiving, and I've been interested in sharing more about my Thanksgiving traditions anyway, here we go.  Also, I think I will combine this with the "No Place Like Home" party that our blogging friend Sandi over at Rose Chintz Cottage is throwing this week. I know it is confusing to link to two different groups with one post, but I think it will work with this particular subject.  So here we go:

https://sundaystealing.blogspot.com/

Hi! I'm your host Bev 2 Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This 3 feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal 4 all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise 5 to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and 6 intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. What did you do for Thanksgiving when you were a kid? 

L to R: my sister Doris, me , Mom, and my brother Clifford. 

Admiring the turkey as it came out of the oven. 

My happiest memories of Thanksgiving as a child revolve around our family dinner table, where usually my Paternal Grandparents, My Aunt Marion and my cousin Becky, and all of my immediate family would gather for a wonderful turkey dinner.  I wish I could find the picture of my cousin Becky and me with the turkey drumsticks in our hands  (or up to our mouths) as we always asked for them first. Becky and I were just 9 months apart, and as I was the youngest of four children in my family, and she was an only child, we were more like sisters than cousins. 

This picture below is a few years later, when we were past the turkey drumstick stage:

Family dinner...this was at my grandparents' home, and I apparently am the one taking the picture with my own little camera, hence I am not in the picture. My cousin Becky is standing up in the back. This was actually at Christmas, and she and I both got blonde "shag" wigs that year. Becky is wearing hers in this picture, and I am sure I was wearing mine too, but sadly there is no picture of that! 

2 .What’s your favorite family tradition?  

When my cousin Becky and I were much younger, we always put on a Thanksgiving "play" for the family after dinner. We would dress up like pilgrims, and tell the story of the First Thanksgiving.  I remember drawing a picture of a turkey on a little chalkboard with the words, "Happy Thanksgiving".  Then we would ask the family to join us in singing "Come Ye Thankful People Come" or  "We Gather Together".  After singing we would pass a basket for the "offering", and the grownups had to come up with some kind of  monetary offering or they couldn't leave the room. LOL.  (Not really, but I think they did reach in their pockets and come up with some coins or a dollar).  We were very creative.  Now my cousin Becky has her own big family with many grandchildren, and they try to get them all together in one place or another.  We don't get to see each other for holidays anymore since we live in different states, but we do try to get together once a year if she and her hubby travel to Florida.

Nowadays in our home we usually ask everyone to share something they are thankful for as we stand in a circle for the blessing before we begin our dinner. However, if the group is large, we save that for when we are seated at the table and once everyone is served so that the food doesn't get cold while we wait for everyone to share their special thoughts.

  
3. What’s your favorite way to give back and help others?

We have always invited people to our home for Thanksgiving who may not have anywhere else to go. Throughout the years we have had some wonderful blessings by having special guests grace our table.

These pictures are from a few years ago in our former home, where we had a BIG dining room and loved to fill it up with friends, neighbors and family.

 I think our most memorable time was when we were also away from our family, serving at a Christian College. We could not go home for Thanksgiving, so we invited several college students and some staff members to come and join us since they also could not go "home". Years later we received the nicest letter from one of the young couples who had joined us that day, telling us how much that meant to them and that they also try to pay it forward by doing the same wherever they are.  Sadly, due to "Covid", this year we are limiting our dinner to family members only. Somehow that doesn't feel right to me, but I've found that many people really don't want to go out anyway because of the same issue.  I hope that is all changed by next year.

4. Name one person who can make you laugh, even months later. Why?

Well, if my mother in law was still living, I would definitely say her. "Nanny" had such a way of telling stories and talking about things that always made us laugh. She is greatly missed, especially at our holiday gatherings. Everyone loved visiting with "Nanny". And even though she's been gone for two years, she still makes me laugh when I think about her, but in a very good way.

5. What is the funniest thing you remember about a Thanksgiving past?

One year my niece brought these funny mustaches and lips on a stick, and we all took pictures with them. It was a lot of fun. Here's hubby and me displaying our funny faces:

6. Do you have any unusual traditions, rituals or habits around Thanksgiving?

I wouldn't call it unusual, but our family has always taken a walk after we eat. It's something we did with our parents, and we try to still do it today.  It's a good way to walk off the food and also to visit with one another.  (usually we do this before we eat dessert, so we have room!)

Here we have my sister Doris, our Daddy, and me,  (many years ago) taking our after dinner walk:

And then someone snuck up behind us to take our picture, and we all turned around and did this:

So you can see, it wasn't just my cousin and I that did crazy things on Thanksgiving...my sister and I were two peas from the same pod.

Another thing we used to love to do as a family was sing hymns after our dinner was over. At my grandparents' home my Aunt would play the organ and we would sing.  At my parents' home we would just gather around, pass around the old Cokesbury hymnals,  and start singing. Happy memories!https://www.facebook.com/pamela.m.steiner/videos/1471294868993  That is a link to my Facebook page video of us singing. Not sure if it will work or  not, but we can try!

7. What time do you eat your Thanksgiving meal?

Well, we eat it when the turkey is done and everyone is gathered and the food is all hot and ready. We usually aim for 1:00 nowadays because people who have to travel want to leave before dark.

8. Name one ancestor that you think about on Thanksgiving and tell us why.

Nowadays I think about my parents. They always made every holiday so special. My mother with her magnificent pies, and my father who kept the guys active with a game of horseshoes and kept the kids entertained in his "Train Room". He was known to the grandkids as "Grandpa Choo-Choo" because he collected Lionel trains and had a room devoted to his display. He loved showing it off to anyone, young and old, who came to the house.  It was great fun for all.

Here is "Grandpa Choo Choo" with our grandson Noah, our son Matthew, and me, way back when. Noah is now 21 years old, and now Grandpa Choo Choo and our son Matthew are probably playing with trains in heaven together. Yes, they are greatly missed at our Thanksgiving table.

9. Is there a family heirloom at the Thanksgiving table? What its story?

Yes, we usually use this beautiful flow blue antique platter, which belonged to my mother, and I am assuming it belonged to her mother before her, but I am not certain of that. I just know we  used it at my parents' home for many years, and now I have it to hold the turkey:

And if I am brave enough, we will use this beautiful Haviland China vegetable dish for our vegetables. This definitely belonged to my Grandma Tedlie (maternal). I just get a little nervous about using it because I would hate for it to get broken, but I would love to have it on our table:

And this lovely glass turkey dish is not our family's heirloom, but our dear neighbor from our former home gave it to me to use at Thanksgiving to hold the cranberry sauce. It belonged to his mother, and he had such happy memories of her using it every Thanksgiving, and when we invited him to our dinner he wanted to give it to me so we could carry on that tradition, which we did. We have since left that home, but we did extend an invitation to this sweet man to join us again as we are only about 30 miles away, but he declined this year due to the Covid threat. However, I told him that I would use his mother's cranberry dish in honor of him at our table, and he was very pleased to hear that.

10. What is your favorite part about Thanksgiving Day?

Seeing our loved ones and friends gathered around the table and hearing them share their stories and listening to the laughter of the kids (now all mostly grown) as they have fun at the "kid's table" together.

11. What is something that was done for you this year that makes you grateful this Thanksgiving?

I can't think of any one particular thing that was done for us, but we are very grateful that we have stayed healthy through this current crisis in our land, and that our family has been safe and we are so very blessed and thankful.  God is so good to us, and we just can't thank Him enough.

12. What foods do you usually have for Thanksgiving?

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, some kind of vegetable, maybe squash, green beans or peas, cranberry sauce, some kind of jello salad, relish tray, and then of course the pies: apple, pumpkin, pecan.  If my parents were still living and my brothers here we would have mince meat.

13. How has the celebration of Thanksgiving today changed from when you were little?

The people have all changed. Now WE are the oldest generation of the family, and our kids are grown and some have kids of their own.  There aren't any great-grands yet in this generation of family, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time before that will happen and the family will continue on as before, establishing their own traditions and ideas.

14. If you could share Thanksgiving dinner today with one person in history who would it be? Why? (Note: it can be a relative)

This is a hard one. I would love to have our son Matthew with us again, but wouldn't call him back from heaven for anything.  Same thing with our parents, my oldest brother Russell, and our grandparents. But the one I would love  to have today would be my paternal Grandma Mursch. I've been studying her genealogy all year, as she was adopted. I have discovered who her birth parents were, and I would love to have them all come to our home, with all of their extended families that we never got to meet, and have a great big family reunion of blood kin that never had the opportunity to know each other. I would visit with all of them and get to know our ancestors and hear their stories that we never knew.  I look forward to having that opportunity one day in heaven, but it would be so neat to meet them all now.

15. What is one wish you have for the next generation as they begin to establish their own Thanksgiving traditions

That they would carry on the family traditions of getting together, and never allow politics or religion or any other issue divide them from being family.  We currently all probably have those family members with whom we disagree on such matters, but my prayer is that we would rise above that and remember that we were family first and foremost.  This world and all it's ideologies and social issues will continue on, constantly changing. But family should always love one another above all, and love God even more. I would pray that they would always remember that it is God Who has made us, and not we ourselves.

It is said best here in the 100th Psalm:

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

Here is a good place to end this by sharing our Pastor's message from yesterday, which was on the 100th Psalm.  Please join in and listen also as our Praise Team sings "Give Thanks" at the beginning:

Give Thanks

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"

Let the poor say, "I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us"

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"

Let the poor say, "I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us"

Give Thanks.

Note: If you'd like to see some previous posts about our Thanksgivings in the past, you can click on the topic in the right sidebar that says "Thanksgiving", and it will take you to the list of many Thanksgiving memories and stories.