Updated: I had posted this on Sunday, then noticed last night that My Life as Annie’s Time Travel Tuesday this week is about Thanksgiving memories, so I am using this same post for that. It’s good to have TTT back up and running again!

Joyful Days‘ post about how she spent Black Friday with her mother put me in a reflective mood, so I thought on this close of Thanksgiving weekend I would post about Thanksgiving memories.

I don’t have any specific memories of childhood Thanksgivings except for breaking the wishbone. I also don’t remember much what we did the first few years we were married, though I might if I were to get out the old picture albums. We lived near the university then and I do have vague memories of getting together with other couples. The first Thanksgiving I have a specific memory of was when Jeremy, our firstborn, was three months old and my husband’s mother came for a visit to meet him. Her return flight to Idaho left, if I remember correctly, Thanksgiving afternoon. We weren’t going to do a Thanksgiving dinner since she was traveling that day, but the more we thought about it, the more we wanted to. So on the way home from Wednesday night church, we stopped at a grocery store and got a small turkey breast and other feast supplies, and I remember my husband remarking what a blessing it was to go to a store that close to Thanksgiving and still have plenty of groceries to choose from.

One event that has been a part of every Thanksgiving I can remember at least since we were married is that the churches we’ve attended have had a special Thanksgiving service the Tuesday or Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving in which those attending have had the opportunity to give a testimony about how the Lord has worked in their lives. It’s one of my favorite times of year to listen to dear folks look back at the joys and sorrows of the past year with thanksgiving for all God did for them.

My husband’s former pastor from Idaho has several children who, when they were first married, attended grad school in the Greenville area, and because there were several in the area at the time, their mom and dad would come to visit them for Thanksgiving, and they would graciously invite us. They were like second family to my husband and one of the primary spiritual influences in his life as he was growing up, and I remember those get-togethers fondly.

One of our most memorable Thanksgivings occurred when one member of that family moved to Tennessee and everyone was invited there. We had recently moved to Georgia, and there wasn’t at that time a direct route from where we were to where we were going, so we decided to swing by Greenville, attend the Thanksgiving praise service of our old church, stay with friends overnight, then drive up to TN early Thanksgiving morning. All went according to plan and we really enjoyed the visit with our old church and friends until Thursday morning: as we pulled out of our friend’s driveway to leave for TN, our car stalled. I don’t remember what was wrong with it, but we just could not get it going. It being a holiday, no mechanics were open. Our friends had plans with family in town for the day and we couldn’t impose on them any further. We ended up getting a rental car, leaving our car with our friends, and calling later to have our car towed to a mechanic. Finally on the road, we were late for the meal at our friends’ in TN, so we stopped at a Burger King. I was very thankful one was open, but as you look at the other diners, you do wonder what their story is and why they’re at a Burger King on Thanksgiving. Back on the road again and reaching those twisting mountainous roads in TN, Jesse got sick — all over the rental car and everything anywhere near him. We had to pull over to the side of the road and deal with the mess (and from henceforth Dramamine became a part of our traveling routine). Finally we got to TN in time for the reheating of leftovers and making of turkey sandwiches in the evening. There was plenty of food left and we enjoyed fellowshipping. We ended up driving back home to GA the next day and turning in the rental car there, having to make a return trip to Greenville later in the week when the car was fixed.

I think we may have traveled to my folks in TX or my husband’s in ID once or twice: more than likely it was Christmas rather than Thanksgiving. But at some point when our children were small we decided to stay home for the holidays rather than deal with the stress of traveling with young children when half the nation seemed to also be traveling (and in the case of ID we faced uncertain weather in the winter months). Plus neither of our families had a distinctively Christian emphasis on the holidays and we wanted that for our children. Though I think having our own family celebration was good for us, in many ways now I kind of regret not spending more holidays with extended family.

I don’t remember what year I made my first turkey dinner on my own but I remember being very nervous about it. Now, however, a turkey seems to me one of the easiest meals to prepare. It took me years to learn how to make gravy, though: I always bought packets of gravy mix or jars of ready-made gravy just in case.

Our Thanksgivings in recent years have pretty much been like this one was. I usually get up fairly early to get the turkey in the oven so we can eat between noon and one, and I enjoy the quietness of the morning with beautiful praise music on our local Christian radio station. I then get my shower and have devotions, and everyone else gets up at various times. We eat around midday, have pies some time in the late afternoon, and leftovers or sandwiches later in the evening. It’s nice for me that once the kitchen is cleaned up, I’m pretty much “off” for the rest of the day. My good husband carves the turkey, then after the meal gets as much of the meat off the bones and cleans the roasting pan for me. We save the bigger bones for turkey bone soup (one of my all time favorite things) some time within the next week. This particular Thanksgiving afternoon and evening we napped, played a game, and watched Ratatouille in the evening (a cute movie if you can get past the idea of rats in the kitchen…). We’re all so scattered between school, work, and various obligations in the weeks before and after Thanksgiving that it is nice to have a fairly laid-back relaxing day with just the family.

Sometimes after dinner we go around the table and have everyone mention something they are thankful for. I wish we did it every year. We did learn not to do it before the meal — everything gets cold on the table and people are hungry.

It also used to be a part of every Thanksgiving that I would call my mom in the evenings. Sometimes my brother and sisters would still be there and I’d have a chance to say hi, but often everyone would be gone and we’d have a chance to chat. That’s one of the things I’ve missed most since she passed away.

As for Black Friday — no way, no thanks!! As I mentioned a day or two ago, I really don’t like crowds in stores, so I wait to Christmas shop til weekdays when there are fewer people around. Lately I’ve done more and more shopping online anyway. Quite often we’ve done some kind of home project in the days after Thanksgiving. But this year we just relaxed, enjoyed each other, and regrouped for the next several busy weeks until Christmas.

I enjoy it when we have five Thursdays in November like we do this year. With Thanksgiving falling on the fourth one, it seems like we have an extra week between it and Christmas. Personally I like to savor the last week of autumn before transitioning to Christmas — though I have been looking at Christmas pictures and graphics for my header, so I may go ahead and change it over sooner than I had planned.

My post about what I am thankful for is here.

I hope your Thanksgiving went well!