Thanksgiving Traditions




In my blogabouts for the past few days I've been reading a lot about Thanksgiving and everybody's special family traditions. So I thought I'd share a little about my family's Thanksgivings. I am certain that Houston and I are related. We must be, our memories of the Thanksgivings of our childhood are so similiar, we surely must have been at the same place. Right down to the stout women and the men folk having to sneak out to their cars for a snort of their favorite liberations. Oh how I love to sit and remember those wonderful days spent with cousins, aunts, uncles and Mawmaw and Pawpaw. It just doesn't get any better than that.
There were a couple of years after I married that Thanksgiving was spent with in-laws. Yes, it was everything you can imagine it would be and probably more. But there was always an abundance of good food, which made it at least tolerable.
Then there were the lean years, when we first joined the Army. Money is always tight for young military families, so three or four families would get together and pool our meager food supplies. Those Thanksgivings were good too. We were with people just like us. Our kids played together, the guys talked shop, watched football, and drank their beer. When we were in Germany we celebrated our holidays at the brigade messhall. I tell you now, those Army cooks can put on one darned fine spread. We'd eat, retire to the rec room, where the guys would, yep, watch football, the women sat around and gossiped, the kids played. Ater the game we'd all trip back into the mess hall to eat some more. Afterwards the cooks would pack up any leftovers and we women could take our pick of what we wanted to take home with us. I'd bet you can guess what was always on the top of my list. PIE! I love's me some pie. Best of all there was NO clean up for us ladies.
After we left the Army and moved back to Podunt, I began the tradition of making my own Thanksgiving dinner. It took awhile for me to get it perfected (I never have learned how to make that darned lemon icebox pie that Robert so dearly loves, at least not as well as my sister-in-law, the other Wanda does), but eventually I got things pretty much the way I liked them to be. As the kids got older and began lives of their own, no matter where they were they always tried to make it home for Thanksgiving. Of course as time went on we've had to share them with in-laws and such. We haven't had Daniel home for a couple of years now, but the rest of them present and accounted for.
This year we will begin a new tradition. I'll be passing down the apron. We'll be going to Josh & Amie's, where Amie and Kasey will prepare the dinner. It's the first time for both of them, which means, of course there'll be at least one disaster and maybe even some tears. Amie's making the turnkey (I'll be sure to warn her about the giblets,lol) and stuffing. Kasey's baking the ham and making 'tater-salad'. As for desert, the pies will have to be store bought, since neither of them is a skilled pie maker. No matter, my pies have come from IGA for the past 5 or 6 years. They are darn good and by now no one knows the difference. Amie's making a blueberry cobbler too. All I have to do is sit back, relax, enjoy the grandkids and sip a little wine. This just may be the best one yet.
So goes the circle of life.