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.
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.
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! 
