Memorable Thanksgiving Tellings. Please share!

[dayspring39]

We all have stories to tell... why not drop by and share one or two or three...

One year while in Lansing Mi my twins were being (piss ants) and did not invite me to a thing... a friend of mine and several others took cooked turkeys and trimmings to a church in Flint that had been hard hit by the auto layoffs... we along with other volunteers fed the homeless in the churches' huge activity room... there were several hundred and when we were finished serving we ate with them told stories listened to theirs and some of them watched foot ball on several tvs put around the room... there was also a vcr for those that did not want to watch foot ball... there were game tables also... it is times like these that we see all that we have and are thankful...

When we were raising our 4 children one year we had a huge dinner we invited my aunt and uncle Grimes. their daughter Irene she had I believe 10 children then, my brother Bill his wife Connie and little Bill, my uncle Sam and aunt Doris, my grandpa Wellington maybe more cannot remember... all of the children ate in the basement and played there also the rest ate in the kitchen and living room... wow what a crowd... no games just gab and gab and gab... my oh my I remember baking all week pies 7 different kinds, cookies and any other things that could be prepared ahead...

I may add more stories here later...
For some there is a huge let down after a holiday and for others a let down during the holiday because they are alone...

Had to edit this one in: Last year I was in FL at Cliftwood for thanksgiving there were many in the club house... they asked a gentleman to say grace... after grace I thought of the family gatherings and said lets sing the Doxology... 'Praise God from whom all blessings.... ' did you ever sing solo? no one knew it and I know my face was red as cranberry sauce!!! but I would do it again...

[Irmi]

Kathleen, what a neat subject!

After Steve & I were married, I played for a small Episcopal church and invited several elderly members to our house to join us for dinner. Steve would pick them up and take them home. The neatest part, for me, being an organist, was having them around the organ or piano, before or after dinner, singing their hearts out.

Dad's last Thanksgiving on earth, RIP Dad, was spent with Steve & I. He loved the turkey I always brine and gloated to others about the things I made homemade.

I can't wait to read the next post!

[chalet05]

Well, my story is not one of giving though there were times we shared Thanksgiving with friends who had no nearby family. I don't suppose I had ever had Thanksgiving without turkey until we had lasagna with friends!

We had just moved to Washington State from Kansas in October. I was 10 and my brother had just turned one. My maternal grandmother 'moved' with us for 3 months - and as I type, I realize she was my age (67). Anyway, Mother and Grandmom were preparing dinner when my Mother decided it was time to go to the hospital - my sister was a Thanksgiving baby! I went to a friend's home so I probably had Thanksgiving there and then again at home a few days later!

What a different life I have than my Grandmother did at this age - she lived to be nearly 102.

In 1966, Steven had been discharged from the Coast Guard and we had both gotten jobs with the telephone company in Seattle in August. He had to work the day after Thanksgiving so we didn't go 'home' to Port Angeles, but we spent the day wrapping attendant gifts for our December wedding and Christmas gifts. The radio was on and they kept mentioning turkey, dressing, etc. We finally gave in and went to Denny's for hot turkey sandwiches!

Thanks, Kathleen, for starting this. Fun to remember and to read others' stories!

[Bethers]

As a child, all my Thanksgivings were spent at a restaurant with all my relatives on my Dad's side of the family who lived within maybe 100 or more miles. We children would go with both glee and trepidation. Glee because we loved being able to all get together, and it didn't happen nearly often enough. Trepidation because the children would (3 or so of us each year) be called upon to say grace. I remember my first time doing it I was so scared I'd screw up - so I stuck with the very short, old-fashioned "God is great! God is good! Let us thank Him For our food. Amen" I probably said it all in about 2 seconds. Then I was again able to breath and enjoy the day. It seems, most years, snow would begin while we would all (we're talking lots of us) be in the restaurant. It would be an interesting ride home - long before people drove those kind of distances often.

As an adult, barely, I had moved to MN with my best friend. We were each in our own apartment, but our first Thanksgiving there, we invited a few others with no where else to be, no family in town. My g/f cooked her first turkey (her father owned a very fine restaurant) and she was trying to use the chef's recipe from the restaurant. While I remember eventually eating the meal and it must have been good (I helped or did most side dishes) - what I most remember was Gwen being upset because the turkey was not done, was still not done, etc etc - that when it was done, she jumped for joy and had the biggest knife in the kitchen in her hand - and cut her other hand badly. Before we could eat, we were bandaging her up and discussing whether we should take her to the hospital (she refused to go). We had a wonderful day and evening - even if we didn't eat until about 9 pm.

I'm editing to add a 3rd Thanksgiving story (Thanks Kath, so enjoying reading yours and others and thinking about these). Still in MN - one of my good friends and I would often go to a neighborhood bar that had a game we liked to play. He traveled a lot and when in town, he'd inevitably try to talk me into cooking (so he could take home leftovers) and then we'd go to the bar and play the game. We rarely drank, or might have one beer each. But we'd be their hours. The woman who owned the bar knew nearly everyone who came in by name. As time progressed, and Thanksgiving neared, we discovered that she "closed" the bar Thanksgiving, except to regulars - all those who had no where else to go. She opened about 1 pm and welcomed them all in and served a full Thanksgiving dinner - free of charge. I was invited - I came instead as a helper with side dishes. What a wonderful experience it was. What a wonderful woman she was.

[MandysMom]

Our favorite memories include others. Second year we were married I ended up with 20 young sailors who worked for my husband in the Navy ( he was a first class E-6) and none had family there in Hawaii. I bought a 26 lb turkey and husband had a fit and said most would go to waste. That night after the boys had gone home he was rummaging in fridge and I asked what he was looking for. He said the turkey. I reached past him and handed him a little sandwich Baggie. He stood and stared. Then said where's the rest. I said really? You invite 20 young men and want to know where the turkey is? LOL
Velda

[monik7]

My family used to trade off with my father's brother's family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My uncle was the only one of my dad's three brothers who had followed him to California from Minnesota. There were my older brother and me and my two cousins a little younger than I. My uncle always brought his flash camera on a tripod with a timer so we could all sit for a group picture. The only problem was that the camera timer had a mind of its own. My uncle would set it and run into the picture and we'd all wait. . . and wait . . .and wait. Pretty soon we'd be laughing and he'd jump up to go try again and then it would flash with him half way there and the rest of us roaring with laughter. They were the best pictures. Not one of them with us all sitting prim and proper.
Sandi

[avalen]

the year my parents and us children (3) moved from California to Colorado we stayed in our old Shasta camping trailer, the kind with the bunk overhanging the hitch (sister and I slept there) we all stayed there while looking for a house to rent until
we bought one.....we arrived in Colorado in October and by Thanksgiving we were still in that trailer. My mother still made
a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, only the turkey was one of those Jennio turkey roast that came with its own gravy in the foil pan. It was very good and I still enjoy them today.

[JudyJB]

I don't remember any specific Thanksgiving dinners, but I do remember that every year my dad would buy a bottle of sauterne wine. Now you have to understand that my parents came from very humble beginnings and even though they did well financially later, they had no taste whatsoever in wine! I think it was the only bottle of wine they bought in the year. The rest of the year, they drank beer and mixed drinks.

I don't know how my dad got hooked on sauterne because it is a desert wine, but the brand I think was B&G and it was imported from France, so it was really French wine. And as long as I can remember, they allowed us kids to have a small glass of wine for Thanksgiving along with our meal. It was a big deal for my dad to buy that wine and serve it chilled for Thanksgiving! Certainly I did not know anyone else who had real French wine for Thanksgiving!!

In those days, Detroit was a booming city and had the world's largest department store--J.L. Hudson Co. It was 13 stories tall and took up an entire block in the heart of downtown. They sponsored a parade every year on Thanksgiving Day Morning, so we always watched the parade before dinner. I vaguely remember taking baton lessons and marching in it one year, but that is very very fuzzy.

I remember in those early days of television (1950s) we had only the three major channels and a fourth, Canadian TV from across the border. Sunday afternoon was always Victory at Sea or some other war movies and bowling, and professional wresting and curling on Canadian TV. Not very exciting compared to choices today.

[gypsyrose1126]

My family owned the country store about 15 miles from town(Superior, WI). Of course we were closed on Thanksgiving, but always would get a call to see if someone could just run down and pick up something they forgot. My folks would let them into the house and into the store, they would make a note of what that person took and the person would pay for it the next pay day. After breakfast we would go to my grandparents who lived on a farm just a couple miles from us. My Aunt & Uncle and their 7 kids would come over. Us kids would play outside as long as possible and then come in for a wonderful turkey dinner with all the fixings! The kids would sit at the kitchen table and the adults at the dinning room table. Lots of talking, sharing stories and laughs. We would all help with the clean up, take some pictures and visit some more. Then in the late afternoon we would drive to town to my other Aunt & Uncle (my Dad's side) their 4 kids and my other grandparents. More food, fun, games and laughs.
This was all repeated at Christmas time. Wonderful childhood memories

[chalet05]

In 2002, Steven and I were full timing. Our plans changed due to weather and we ended up in Van Horn, Texas. The RV park also had a working ranch (not right at the park). The owners invited everyone to a free Thanksgiving dinner - the park guests were invited to come before the cowboys (I would have like to have eaten with the cowboys!). For whatever reason, we hadn't had a real Thanksgiving dinner for a few years so this was really a treat. Little did we know that would be our last Thanksgiving as Steven passed away the next year.

When we lived in Kansas, we had the family holidays with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Always such a fun time, particularly with a cousin my age.

[dpf]

The second year I was teaching here there was a terrible blizzard that started Sunday night of Thanksgiving week. We didn’t have school all week. There was no way anyone was going to be able to travel out of town. The streets were barely open. On Wednesday afternoon cabin fever had set in and bunch of us were able to get downtown to the bar via 4 wheel drives, tractors and snowmobiles! While there we decided that we singles who were stranded were going to have Thanksgiving together. My house was the appointed location because I was a home ec. teacher and they thought I was the only one who could make the turkey and dressing! The only drawback was I only had a 13” black and white TV definitely not what the guys wanted for football. The bar owner told us we could use one of the color TVs in the bar if we had it back by Friday. Also had to borrow a roaster big enough for a turkey from his wife! We pooled our money and went to the grocery store and everyone went home with what they were supposed to make for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Have you ever tried to hold onto a 20# turkey and roaster plus the makings for dressing while riding on the back of a snowmobile? The meal ended up far from perfect but passable. My little house was packed with 15 people. We had to eat in shifts because I didn't have enough dishes and silverware. But we had a great time watching football, playing cards, ship-captain-crew and a cut-throat game of Monopoly. While none of us singles ended up together, our spouses probably are sick to death of hearing us reminisce about the Thanksgiving of ’76!

[Getupngo]

A day or two before Thanksgiving, my four-year-old son had asked me if girls had penises. When I told him they did not, he asked why. I told him they had vaginas. He appeared satisfied by that answer.

Fast-forward to Thanksgiving, when my son rushed up to my elderly Auntie Bea and said, "Guess what! I have a penis and YOU have a vagina!"

Yep. Memorable Thanksgiving.

[avalen]

oh yea, talking about wine.....one year I had my glass of wine in a little juice glass sitting on the end table next to my chair,
watching tv and doing things in the kitchen back and forth. Next thing I know, dear son (5 years old) grabbed that glass of wine and chugged it down like a glass of Koolaid! He was literally bouncing off the walls, we had to call poison control....ipecac, and watch him but he was fine after he got done being drunk. It wasn't Thanksgiving day but think a day or two after.

[snowball]

A day or two before Thanksgiving, my four-year-old son had asked me if girls had penises. When I told him they did not, he asked why. I told him they had vaginas. He appeared satisfied by that answer.

Fast-forward to Thanksgiving, when my son rushed up to my elderly Auntie Bea and said, "Guess what! I have a penis and YOU have a vagina!"

Yep. Memorable Thanksgiving.

this one Janice should have had a spew alert!!!

I remember thanksgivings with mixed emotions loved being with family (extended) but never was into football and that ruled the
roost but I remember one year family was there as well as grandma and grandpa...my grandma watched grandpa like a hawk to make sure
he didn't over indulge or something...we were sitting there eating pie and grandma took another piece of pie..her third one but who was counting other than grandpa...he said to her and I quote good hell ma that is your third piece of pie...we still chuckle don't remember her response though...
sheila

[Queen]

Great stories, how fun!!

When we were stationed in Italy my dad was NCOIC (the head Seargent) in his unit, he remembered being a young Airman far from home during the holidays so he always tried to do something nice for his young single Airmen. Every year we would host thanksgiving dinner for the fellas if we lived in a large enough place... if not we joined them at the mess hall. The guys really seemed to enjoy being with a family and we just loved hanging out with them, for me it was like having 20-50 big brothers!