Community Chat

[haddon9]

We would go to Uncle Jack's & Aunt Pearl's house.  They lived in Smithtown, NY and way back then in the 1950s and early 1960s it was somewhat rural....at least the road where their house was.  They had several acres of land and we would also go for Christmas too (they would chop down a tree from their property).  This was a big deal for a kid from the heart of Brooklyn!

They lived in a cute cottage built by Uncle Jack's father.  When you entered the house you were in a huge kitchen/dining area with a fireplace....it was open concept before it became a thing.  All the aunts, uncles & cousins would come and we were able to all fit around the huge table (with the help of card tables placed at the end).  Uncle Jack would name the turkey and we all had a great time!

Funny thing that I remember being somewhat fussy about the food...all stuff that I love today but I couldn't wait for the dessert!

[jeanlake]

Thanksgiving was late lunch then the five of us would eat dessert for dinner. Sometimes dad would put dressing and gravy with thin slices of turkey on white bread and make dinner sandwiches for us. My parents had solid jobs and worked hard. Work and school was closed. I was always aware of the joy of 'days off.'

Family lived 1000 miles away in North Carolina. We visited them 2 weeks a year, but dad had a wonderful job at the airport so we stayed in the Midwest. Mom wanted to fly back home during holidays, but 'free' standby during peak travel days and transportation to small towns took forever. Mom missed her family so much. Parents moved to the Midwest after the death of their first child at six months old - Measles.

Along with our meal was a call 'back home' wishing everyone Happy Thanksgiving. Mom and grandma would recite their menus and talk about recipes. They were so close and I'm so very thankful I have that close relationship with my adult daughters. I had good role models.  

Most memorable Thanksgiving -- burned into my memory bank was a warm, autumn day, sunshine, little breeze and me pumping my legs on the swing until I got called into the kitchen. Doors open -- I could smell everything going on in the kitchen. I remember being full of joy and singing the song -- Oh, they built the ship Titanic to sail the ocean blue... and they thought they had a ship that the water dare go through --. Anyone remember that song? In retrospect, I had a happy, contented moment but was singing about a tragic one. Is that a little piece of life, or what?     

[beckyb1012]

First off we did not have the entire week off from school or even early dismissal on Wed. which made having Thur. and Friday at home so more special.  It was always a maternal holiday at Great-Grandmother or my Grandmother's home.  Once my Mom and her twin sisters starting raising all of us cousins then they took turns each year.  My "Grands" enjoyed no longer doing the bulk of the work but enjoyed the children surrounding them.  Now Christmas Day was another matter that was always always at my Great Grandmother's home even up in to her 90's.  It was like a second visit from Santa Claus with all the grands, aunts, uncles from 5 generations and back when gifts were bought for all.  What a haul we children had. 

[proudlyfromNJ]

We always went to the paternal Grandparents home for Thanksgiving. They had a very small home and we all barely fit even though it was just the six of us and Grandma  and Grandpa. Grandma cooked with Mom helping her.

Not sure if Football was on or not. We stayed to clean up and visit a little then went home.

[Mz iMac]

I did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving.  My parents always said, "we eat turkey & stuffing any old time around here."  So instead my parents took us to Horn & Hardart to eat.

Afterwards, my father would pick up his sister from the train station.  Wait around a bit to pick up one of my mother's sister.  By the time we arrived home, my mother's other sister would be already at the house after driving up from down south.

Funny thing, all my aunts except one lived near each other yet, paternal & maternal aunts NEVER traveled together to our house.

Black Friday my aunts & my mother would get up at the crack of dawn to take the bus downtown.  They would have breakfast at Horn & Hardart then do ALL their x-mas shopping.  I believe they also had lunch & dinner there too. 

They would return to our house around midnight or so loaded down w/"gifts."  A taxi brought them home.  My favorite memory is seeing that taxi pull up in front of our house (us kids were suppose to be sleep) w/its trunk tied down because it was too full to close.  Even had a rack on top w/gifts tied down inside a trunk like box.

[SeaMaiden]

For me It was just our nuclear family on Thanksgiving... Mom Dad and my two sisters and me. It was that way until I was 12 when my  parents divorced and my world as I knew it blew up.

I grew up never knowing any relatives... no cousins.. nothing..... I to this day do not have or know any relatives other than my remaining two sisters. And we are not close and never talk. 

Family is a learned thing... you learn to have family or not have family.  I always wondered if I would be different having known relatives. 

[AuntG]

Big meal at home in early afternoon. No talk of Christmas shopping so early in the season. In fact, stores were closed - On Sunday too.

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@AuntG wrote:

Big meal at home in early afternoon. No talk of Christmas shopping so early in the season. In fact, stores were closed - On Sunday too.

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@AuntG  Stores near me are still closed on Sunday.

[RedTop]

Thanksgiving Day was hog killin time at our house until I was a teenager.   

On Wednesday, my brothers and I had to stack wood for the fire, get the chains, hooks, and scraping knives out of the granary, and haul water from the house for the barrel used to scald the hogs.   My Dad was up around 4:30 a.m. to light the fire and get the water hot by the time my Grandpa came over on the tractor after 6:30.   We had to carry extra buckets of water over on Thursday morning for hand washing, and knife cleaning, plus take a bunch of rags and towels.   

Mom was always busy in the kitchen with breakfast, pot after pot of coffee, and then lunch.  My brothers and I were runners, but we got to watch the parade inbetween trips.

Dad and my brothers would hunt in the afternoon before dark.   Our turkey meal was on Sunday, just like a normal Sunday dinner.   The holiday was not a big meal deal in my family, and still isn’t.   

[rrpell]

It’s the “ constants” I remember.  The comfort, when you are a child, of knowing what to expect on Thanksgiving and then, having it come true.

For me, the day was brought together by my grandmother and great aunts, rushing around the small kitchen, tasting this and correcting that.  They had the turkey cooking in the oven and roasters stashed wherever they would fit them. We would peek in to them, finding ham and homemade kielbasa with sauerkraut. 

The men would disappear, leaving the kids to watch the Hudson’s Thanksgiving Parade on tv. We’d munch on stuffed celery and olives as we thought about the turkey and stuffing.

Afterwards, the  “big” table was cleared and everyone got out their pennies to play Michigan Rummy.. It was the time when all of us, no matter how young or old, connected.