Over The River and Through Our Memories

I have always loved listening to stories from older family members. Even when I was as young as I can remember I wouldn't go outside and play with my cousins during the Sunday visit to Grama's house. I would stay at the dinning room table during the after dinner coffee and desert time because I loved hearing their stories about times gone by. They were funny, everyone laughing to tears, colorful, wonderful stories that made me want to be inside their stories. This was almost better than television, and that is saying something because TV was everything to a Baby Boomer child of the 1950's.

Thanksgiving to a Baby Boomer conjures up instant feelings of warm fall colors, stopping the race of everyday life, great aromas of food, families getting together, and seeing friends. Yes, even with the normal dysfunctional family situations of dealing with our own oddities seem to be dealt with, diminished, ignored or resolved during this family gathering holiday. The house where the turkey is prepared was the place to wake up to that heavenly aroma of cooking that only Thanksgiving can produce.

To a child of the Boomer Generation, Thanksgiving meant waking to that wonderful smell of the turkey roasting in the oven, then rushing down to watch the Thanksgiving parade on TV and getting primed for Christmas and waiting for Santa to show up at the end of the parade. I am very aware that I was fortunate to have been born who and where I was to enjoy the abundance of food and memories. There were so many who did not have this abundance, who I was oblivious to as a child. Especially during the post World War II, 1950's, Thanksgiving was all about food. I have black and white photos of my Dad's dinning room display of food. He set up this display of fruit, berries, nuts, crackers, cheeses and anything else he could think of. Of course he managed an A&P grocery store at the time, which obviously helped. My Dad was always ready to set up a display of anything, most likely from displaying food in the grocery stores.

Thanksgiving was of course a way of celebrating the year's harvest of the crops, but it seemed logical and appropriate to make it an event of taking some time to give thanks for all the blessings we have.

May you all take time out this November 22, 2012 and give thanks for all the blessings you have and enjoy the day with family and friends.