ALT-3 Thanksgiving Fantasies Versus Realities

Can you imagine being able to share your childhood Thanksgiving celebrations with your own children and grandchildren, not just the memories, the reality? If you could take them back in time, if they could be there when you were a teenager just starting high school....

What better way to work up an appetite for the big Thanksgiving meal than sitting, standing, cheering for our team, then walking home in the cold after? Our Thanksgiving holiday always started at the high school football field, our blue and white against the rival maroon and gray. The Thanksgiving game was more of a social event and never counted in the "official" records because we were in different leagues, but who cared about official, it was a Thanksgiving tradition.

I remember that freshman year especially well, only November and cold enough to freeze the tail feathers off a turkey. Of course by the time we saw our turkey, he was buck naked, toasty hot and crispy brown all over.

I swear you could smell Thanksgiving in the air before you even walked in the front door of our house. Warm, cozy and with the mouth watering aroma of roast turkey and all the fixings - the hardest part of Thanksgiving had to be waiting for dinner to be ready.

The "real" Thanksgiving was about family and thanks, a happy time when we were all together. With all the leaves in, the dining room table nearly went into the living room, and that table was full. Full of food and ten of us seated for the big meal.

My grandfather, the patriarch, bald as the bird he was about to carve, stood at the head of the table in front of the biggest, brownest turkey I'd ever seen. He led us in a prayer of thanksgiving then, bone handled carving knife in one hand, sharpening steel in the other, snick, snick, back and forth until he was ready to begin the ritual carving. Pop-pop was an expert. The slices just seemed to peel off the bird. He'd put the pieces on each person's plate as they were passed to him.

My grandmom made the best cole slaw in the known universe, a huge bowl that was nearly empty by the time dinner was done. We had it all, turkey with bread stuffing inside (the food police would have arrested my grandmother for that one), two kinds of gravy, mounded mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, cole slaw, peas and corn. The only things that came out of a can were the peas and corn.

My mom always gave me the look when I took seconds and mixed the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberries all together on my plate. Aw mom, it's all going into the same place and I like it this way.... My kids and grandkids would get a chuckle out of that one.

Then when we were about to burst out came the pumpkin and mince meat pies. I never understood how the adults could eat mince meat - even the name sounds weird. They liked the dark turkey meat, the giblet gravy and the whole cranberry sauce too. It's my turn to like those good eats (except the mince pie), and it's my grandkids who turn their noses up.

Guess that makes me the patriarch now and that's a bit scary. That's the reality, and Thanksgiving is still a special time for our family - together. We all sit around the table, give thanks and my grandfather guides my hands as I carve the turkey. Those who have gone before are still there in spirit. Thanksgiving is family.

Related Articles

• Differences and Similarities between Boxing Day Thanksgiving and Christmas
• The Fate of Pardoned Thanksgiving Turkeys
• Ways to Include Neighbors who are alone in your Thanksgiving Celebrations
• Including Difficult Relatives in your Thanksgiving Celebration
• How to Include Difficult Relatives in your Thanksgiving Celebration