The Tradition of Thanksgiving

No fruitful information On the edge of winter comes November, re-introducing early evenings, brisk air and leafless trees but, before the dormancy of winter settles in, the annual compensation of Thanksgiving brings families and friends together to celebrate life with food. Common on most tables, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie fill our stomachs and warm our hearts. Each Thanksgiving brings about the recognition of a year’s worth of changes and last Thanksgiving is no exception.

Being part of an eight-child family, I enjoy Thanksgiving with 30+ members and, although several have come and gone, it seems a new face takes their place with a marriage or the birth of a child, ever perpetuating the life circle that is my family. Last Thanksgiving, we lost one member to death but gained another through birth and one more through marriage, decreasing the room in the kitchen by one and adding one more high chair to the table downstairs.

Beginning with meticulous organization of the basement, preparation for the extravaganza referred to as Thanksgiving begins weeks before. Cobwebs, dusty floors and the refrigerator must be cleaned and miscellaneous items are exiled to the furnace room. The stairs get scrubbed, the bathroom usually gets repainted and, because feeding thirty people generates ...

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Coming to a close after nearly two hours, tradition dictates the youngest, most able of the family enthusiastically engage in clean up. Their responsibility to clear the tables of dirty dishes, empty glasses and used napkins is taken seriously by each participant. Proper “Grandma approved” kitchen cleansing and appropriate dish washing is mentored by the older ones, rarely over 25, to the younger ones, generally over ten years of age.

Large-group card playing happens after all is right with the kitchen; leftovers are properly stored and/or packaged, extra dishes are relocated, the garbage is taken out and all tables are wiped and stored. Only then, when the beer is cold, the coffee is hot, and trouble-free access to potential sandwich making is available alongside easily reached snacks does the card playing showdown we call Tonk take place.