My favorite holiday is Halloween. Dressing up, picking a different person to be every year, ghosts, zombies, goblins, potions, spells, horror movies … love it all. Well, maybe not the spiders. Everything else though — AMAZING!
And while I’m waiting for October to come around again, there are more than a few overzealous Christmas people who are already counting down to Christmas and playing Christmas music. Which, makes me cringe every time it happens before the next big holiday on the calendar. No, I’m not talking about Black Friday.
The more I think of Thanksgiving, the more I think of tradition.
When I was a kid, we all used to meet up at grandma’s house (it was grandpa’s house, too, but we never said grandma and grandpa’s house). And by “we all,” I mean everyone. My family, which includes my mom and dad, and little sister and baby brother; my dad’s brother and his family, six-ish, depending on the year; my grandma’s brother’s family, which included three generations, and another six people; and everyone else who showed up. My grandma wouldn’t have turned anyone away. She always said ‘the more the merrier,’ otherwise we would have leftovers for a week — and sometimes we did anyway.
My aunt Dawn would bring a pistachio gelatin dessert, my grandma Bertha would bring Instant Surprise, my aunt Connie would bring something amazing, my aunt Bev would bring a wonderfully-tasting, low-fat dessert (they are few and far between, but it can happen). All this, would be on top of the typical Thanksgiving-feast kind of foods, and all the baked goods I helped my grandma make the night before. I want you to keep in mind everyone in my family who was of an auntly age was my aunt, it didn’t matter how we were related.
This tradition went on for years, and then my family moved, with my grandma and grandpa following us shortly after. We moved to Porterfield from Mokena, Ill. My grandma grew up in Marinette, so it made sense. Thanksgiving finally rolled around, and a new tradition began. We just didn’t make as many pies or have quite as many desserts. Then it morphed into us bringing some of the holiday necessities like apple squares, and a smoked turkey to snack on at a lodge in the Dells. It was around the half-way mark for the family up north and the Illinois family. Did I mention it was always at an indoor waterpark? My cousins and I, ranging from elementary to high school ages, used to spend a lot of time at the park and the arcade inside the lodge.
Then it changed again. My grandma, our matriarch, passed away and I thought things would never be the same. They aren’t, but that’s OK. Instead of one person preparing everything on their own, my sister brother and I begrudgingly take care of the apple squares. I think they tasted better when someone else made them, but that might be in my head. My dad bakes the night before, but doesn’t make seven pies. My mom makes all the stuff, and I try to be a sous chef, and help her the best I can. I’m not the best cook with a recipe, but I can do what you tell me. My sister and her husband come over for the meal and there is a lot of chatter and laughter. Usually “the kids” (age 27 to 34) talk about technology, gaming on top of the teasing, trolling and joking around. We’re back to having leftovers for a week. Thank you, Pinterest for giving us recipes for what to do with all of that food.
The thing is, although my situation has changed all around me throughout my life, the best part of Thanksgiving is the people who you surround yourself with. Oh, and the food. The food is always good, too. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is doing it as they have for 20 years and the people [who are] doing something different.
This column was originally published November 22, 2016, in the EagleHerald. You can find this column and others like it at ehextra.com.
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