Thanksgiving memories

joyful

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We seen postings about Christmas memories and traditions and I thought it would be interesting to get Thanksgiving memories and traditions listed also.

My childhood Thanksgiving memories are having dinner at my g-grandmother/g-aunt's house. They raised my mother and her siblings when my mother's mom died 6 weeks after the birth of the 5th child. My mom was the oldest at the age of 12.

So Thanksgiving was spent with these two dear ladies and my Mom's sibling and all of my cousins. It was a very special time and what made it even more special was it was the time we drew names for Christmas gifts. And the name drawn was kept a secret so I never knew who had my name until Christmas Day.

This was made possible because we all lived close by, some on the same street and others not too far from my g-grandmother. As a result, I continue to be close to many of my cousins and I think of my g-grandmother often. She was a wonderful lady and had many siblings of her own. She took her 5 grandchildren in and raised them even though she still had two of her own at home, plus she raised her other daughter's two girls and a g-grandchild. She never complained, she had a special way to raise children and never made me feel less of a person.
She lost two of her daughters just six months apart (one was my grandmother) and they both were in their 30's and left children. She never talked about it, which explains I never knew until I started doing some family research in the 1990's. She died when I was 18 years old but I was not sad for I knew she was ready to go and lived a full life till the age of 89.
 
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aleighanne

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We never had a big extended family Thanksgiving. It was usually just us. I remember once my grandparents came to our house for Thanksgiving. I just love the memories of watching the parades and there was a radio station that would play Christmas music on Thanksgiving day so we would tune in to listen. A few times we had Thanksgiving with family friends and that was fun and interesting but I was disappointed because we had no leftovers ha ha!!
 
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Christmasstar

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Thanksgiving is always a time for family get together for us. We have it at different homes each year. One year my brother and his wife hosted and she got the bright idea to eat outside on the deck (our thanksgiving in Canada is in Oct) The day was nice and warm and sunny so having it outside would not be to bad. Problem was she decided not to start serving until 7pm...sun almost set and temps going down as they do this time of the year. Everyone was shivering and the food got cold before it could be eaten. Slowly people started to disappear from the deck and a line formed at the microwave. No one was going back outside. Finally my sister in law comes in wanting to know where everyone went. LOL The rest of the evening was inside and never again did anyone suggest an outdoor thanksgiving meal!
 
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trackrebel

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Your great-grandmother must really have been a GRAND woman...I am glad You had her in Your life...nobody will ever be able to take those beautiful memories of Yours away.....Bless Ya
 
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Holiday

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Thanksgiving is always a time for family get together for us. We have it at different homes each year. One year my brother and his wife hosted and she got the bright idea to eat outside on the deck (our thanksgiving in Canada is in Oct) The day was nice and warm and sunny so having it outside would not be to bad. Problem was she decided not to start serving until 7pm...sun almost set and temps going down as they do this time of the year. Everyone was shivering and the food got cold before it could be eaten. Slowly people started to disappear from the deck and a line formed at the microwave. No one was going back outside. Finally my sister in law comes in wanting to know where everyone went. LOL The rest of the evening was inside and never again did anyone suggest an outdoor thanksgiving meal!

Well you may never have another outdoor Thanksgiving in Canada, but I bet you will never forget the one you did have! :smile:

I love reading Thanksgiving stories! I hosted my families Thanksgiving last year - I liked that b/c my house was cleaned from head to toe before Thanksgiving & ready for the tree to go up the day after Thanksgiving! I might have to think about hosting again this year. :) Two years ago we started having our own "Turkey Trot" which leaves from our house & we walk 3-4 miles. My sisters/nieces/friends come over to walk in the morning, then after our walk they come in for coffee & pumpkin muffins, then everyone goes home to get ready for family parties. Last year I told whoever wanted to come over by 2:00 we would watch Miracle On 34th Street (on NBC) & we had dinner (supper) around 5:00! My family (parents, brothers/sisters/nieces/nephews/spouses/great neices/nephews) consists of about 45 people. Unforutnately this year we will be minus one as my brother passed away in March. It will be sad -little did we know that Thanksgiving last year would be my brothers last visit to our house! :(
 
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novelist

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:corn:When I was growing up, my parents always had Thanksgiving at our house. it was such a nice day, with the family all being together. After my sister got married, she and her husband hosted Thanksgiving, and we went there for years. Now, the family has gotten so big, it's impossible for all of us to celebrate together. My sisters all celebrate with their own families. That said, my husband and I have started a tradition we've done since before we were married. Thanksgiving morning, we give eachother one small Christmas gift. It's so nice spending the day at home. My step sons and wives come over, and we have a nice holiday celebration.
 
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GingerMel

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Before my grandmother passed away we used to all go to her house and have a big family Thanksgiving. She had five kids, three of which lived in the same area so I would get to see a bunch of my cousins/aunts/uncles.

Once she died it was a lot harder to get everyone together. They seem to just celebrate on their own now, which I find really sad. One year we had a big get together at my uncle's house and my aunt/uncle even flew in from TX. It was fantastic but we didn't do it again the next year for whatever reason.
 
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lauriebear

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Thanksgiving was always celebrated as that church soup kitchen, every year my grandmother raised me and she believed that sharing and preparing food for those who needed help was very important we had some great times, when my grandfather was alive with us he always made the pies, he would say no body makes them like I do and he was right, they were the best. I still miss them both and I still do the soup kitchen, except now I go in on the Wednesday night until Thursday morning, then we head home and prepare our days celebration. It is an amazing time every year I swear is better then the last one!
 
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Minta

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Growing up Thanksgiving was a simple day for my parents and myself but it was filled with enough food to fed an army. I can remember waking up to the smell of sauteed celery and onions and the turkey roasting away in the oven. My mom would be busy in the kitchen making dish after dish, by dinner time there would so many different dishes that you would not be able to find an empty spot on the table.
 
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joyful

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Growing up Thanksgiving was a simple day for my parents and myself but it was filled with enough food to fed an army. I can remember waking up to the smell of sauteed celery and onions and the turkey roasting away in the oven. My mom would be busy in the kitchen making dish after dish, by dinner time there would so many different dishes that you would not be able to find an empty spot on the table.


That is a wonderful smell, celery and onions sauteed, ummmm and wasn't those days nice when Mom was in the kitchen making the holiday meal and as a kid all we did was sit down and enjoy. I miss those days. I can remember that was the time Mom used her good tableware and I got to put it around the table. The knives, spoons and forks were not fancy or expensive but to my Mom, it was her good set. I have it today, I could not bear to part with it.
 
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judesmama

...Noel, Hilda, and Evan’s mama, too!
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Thanksgiving remains the same for me! We've always gone to my grandparents' house the day before to prep and there is arguing the day of with too many cooks in the kitchen! :) We always watched (and now do the same with my kids!) the channel 6 Thanksgiving Day parade that takes place in Philly in the morning. Then we head over to a day full of food, family, and fun. My kids getting the same experience that I did makes it so wonderful.
 
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loksi

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Always we spent it at the grandparents. Both sets of mine lived within about 20 miles of each other so we got to spend Thanksgiving with each one. They lived in the country and had little of this worlds purchased goods, but the table was always full from the farm or hunting and the family always happy.
I remember early Thanksgiving morning hunts for deer or turkey. Then returning to the smell of the wood smoke from grandma's cookstove. The coffee pot would be rocking gently on the stove while grandma or mother or one of the aunts stirred something nearby or checked the oven.
Desserts! I remember we were never without them on Thanksgiving. Every aunt brought her special creation. Mom usually brought two. But none could ever beat grandma's goodies.
If it was very cool on Thanksgiving, the men would be standing around the wood fired heater, but on warmer days they'd line up chairs on the porch. All of us kids would play around the smokehouse or head back out into the woods or go help grandpa feed the stock and maybe gather eggs for grandma.
But mostly my strongest memories of Thanksgiving are associated with the smells: of wood smoke, cooking, damp fallen leaves...
 
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