Power Of Women | Sisterhood Sharing Sessions | Life Lessons Learned | Parenting: Holiday Traditions, The Thanksgiving Dinner: The Book Of Jane Series

What I’ve Learned

Over the years I’ve come to learn and appreciate the importance traditions play in your childhood. Traditions become a foundation from which your life is built upon. When you have them, they are not easily forgotten, and often become the starting point for every childhood memory. Many of my fondest memories are of those things that shaped my beliefs as a child.

The Thanksgiving Dinner was always the highlight in our household for this Holiday season.

Thanksgiving Dinner

The Preparation

Every Thanksgiving my Mother was charged with cooking the massive Holiday meal for her immediate family, her children, and all of her extended relatives. Our house was the epicenter of activity. My Mother, perhaps like many, would begin preparation for Thanksgiving dinner the evening she arrived home from her last day of work before her Holiday break. After working at the meal prep until around midnight, Mother would then rise between 3:00a.m. and 4:00 a.m. to begin this dance of drudging together a Holiday meal that stretched out over a two-day period.

While preparing a holiday meal for the masses was unmistakably an enormous amount of hard work, my Mother seemed to take pleasure in the process. She was always buzzing around like a busy bee, with minimal help from her children. I think she preferred it that way. It was easier to dash through each dish without stumbling over little people.

I remember fondly how my Mother’s thick dark hair would always flop down in her face like Elvis Presley’s swooped bangs, and a droplet of sweat was always on the verge of dripping off the tip of her pointed nose. She always managed to divert the sweat from landing in the bowl of flour she was sifting, or the pile of potatoes she was mashing. With one fell swoop of her forearm she took care of the would be droplet dribble and the wild Elvis bangs, tamed.

Thankful

As a child, the Thanksgiving Holiday was glorious. The constant smell of delicious aromas floating through the air, from fresh homemade Biscuits, the ever so tender Turkey, Honey Glazed Ham, and Baked Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows, to decadent Pies and other sweet treats made from recipes she pulled from the local newspaper. Throughout this two day Holiday event, my Mother would offer tiny morsels of meat and other tidbits to tone down her children’s rumbling tummies. Scraping up the remains Mother left of the thick dark chocolate or creamy vanilla cake frosting from the bowl and licking the spoon clean, always a treat, and a treasured part of the Thanksgiving Holiday tradition.

After much anticipation, finally an invitation to sit down to ‘The Dinner’. Ah, the joy of eating the meal your stomach and all of your senses had been craving for two days. A feast fit for a Queen and King, and something truly worthy of being thankful.

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