THANKSGIVING THE WAY IT WAS

Uncles, aunts, cousins, siblings, parents and grandparents all gathered in one house for Thanksgiving when I was young.  Our gatherings just happened to be at our grandparents’ homes.

At Mamaw and Papaw’s house most of the adults sat at tables that were set up in different rooms.  The rest of us would kind of scatter out and eat wherever we could find a seat or an empty spot on the floor.  There was always an abundance of food in Mamaw’s kitchen even when it wasn’t a holiday.  On Thanksgiving though, she always had turkey, homemade dressing, biscuits, fluffy cherry salad, cushaw pies, and dumplings she would just stir up and drop from a spoon into the boiling broth.  We would fill our plates grab a drink and land somewhere.    

Everyone talked at the same time and there was laughing, joking and noise everywhere. I am not sure if anyone ever really heard anything that was said, but we always had a great time anyway.

After eating, the women cleaned up while the men watched football on television or just went outside to “shoot the breeze”.  The kids would run in and out of the house playing and aggravating the grownups.

At Grandmama’s house things were quite different.  Everyone had to eat at the table and before they added on a living/dining room combination, there was only the small metal kitchen table with a gray Formica top, which had just one leaf to add.  Needless to say, there was not enough room for all those people to eat at the same time, so we had to eat in shifts. 

Of course, Grandmama insisted that the men eat first and it seemed like they took forever to finish.  Then it was time for the women, yes I said women, not children.  They also seemed to eat and talk for an eternity. 

When it was finally our turn to eat there were always two of the men left at the table, my two uncles Mack and “Goose.” (whose real name was Lewis)  They started with the men and were still there when most of us kids were done.  I am not sure if they ate slowly, heartily or both.  Anyway, there was still plenty of food for them and us. 

Of course, there was turkey, stuffing and all the homemade trimmings, but some of the food was different.  Grandmama rolled out the dough for her dumplings and cut them into long strips and then cut the strips in smaller pieces before adding them to the boiling broth.  She always had jam cakes and minced meat pies for dessert.  Sometimes she would even make up a batch of her famous fried apple pies.

Activities after our meals at Grandmama’s were about the same as at Mamaw’s, except when someone would bring out a guitar and we would gather around and sing.  There were very happy times at both places.

I hope that when my children and grandchildren think back on our Thanksgivings, they will have as many happy memories as I do.