Today, as most of you know, was the day we Americans celebrate
our Thanksgiving Day. Like everyone else, our houses fill with the family that makes our lives so rich and full, and generally indulging in all the family recipes that our mothers and grandmothers before them handed down to us, for our family members to enjoy for years to come.
My mother's chicken and dressing is by far, the best I have ever tasted, and my entire family feels the same way. In November of 2000, mother left us on our own when she went to live in heaven with my father. He had been waiting on her to join him for twenty four years, and I know he was overjoyed when God made her look toward the light that led her to his side and be reunited with him.
Still, it made a change in my life so devastatingly painful, that tears still well up in my eyes at the very thought of her. The November she left us, there was a list of groceries she had on a pad of paper that she had made out so I could take her to the grocery store. She was again, planning on doing all of the cooking for a large crowd, and had every intention of preparing all of her favorite dishes for each one of us. It was truly apparent that she had no reason to believe that she would not be preparing this meal for us all. Her hospital visit was just a temporary interruption, and she knew at first that this would become a reality as soon as she was released from a brief hospital stay, and life would go on as normal. Alas, this was not meant to be, as God had other plans for her and took her quickly, with no indication to us that this was his plan. I suppose he felt as though we were adults, and we had our own families and grandchildren, and we would be able to carry on with the holidays for the first time without her presence. I did not want this, no one did, but we do not have the final word. And God won! Someday he will tell us why. As Lil Brother explained, we had lost our father some twenty four years earlier on November 20, quite unexpectedly also, and we were not prepared for either of their disappearance from our lives. I feel cheated. I still needed her guidance, and his too. I wanted them to get to know all of their grandchildren, but this too was just selfishness on our part. SO, November's hold no special meaning to me, Johnboy, or Little Brother, but for our family's sake, we must go thru the motions because of our children and grandchildren. To give them memories we they become adults, good memories.
I hope they will remember gathering at my house, visiting with their cousins, aunts and uncles and having a family gathering that is filled with love. That is my wish for them for years to come.
As I said before, my mother was famous for her Chicken and Dressing. I took it for granted that she would always be here to prepare it for all of us, along with a turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans, baked corn, fruit salad, and various cakes and pies, so I did not pay much attention to the way she prepared it. I can just remember upon entering her home, the fragrant smells that made the senses reel, and make your mouth water, knowing we would stuff ourselves as close to misery as we could. Everything she prepared was simply delicious. I remember standing beside her and asking each year, "Well, Mom...how much sage do you put in the dressing? How do you know you have put enough chicken broth in the cornbread? How do you know when it is all the way baked, and ready to eat?" You see? Bu the time I got to asking these questions, she had already had her strokes, and it was difficult for her to speak in complete sentences, but thank the good Lord above, I could get it out or her, and I finally wrote all the ingredients down the year before she died.
It took me two years to perfect this dressing, but on the third year of trying, I had finally got it down as perfect as I could. She never really baked by a recipe, and I had to see for myself what a "pinch" of this was, and a few "shakes" of something else was. That third year, I will never forget Lil Brother, and my oldest daughter Christi saying, "Mom/Sis, you finally have this down to a fine science, and it tastes just like Nanny's/mother's dressing." This made me very proud, that even though I did not know I would be having to take her place as the preparer of Thanksgiving Dinner, and probably should have paid closer attention, that I apparently had remembered more than I thought I had. While the food turns out great now,...there is still an ache in our hearts that she is not there sharing this special meal. It was not meant to be, but we are selfish, and could not understand why God would take her from us so soon! Maybe daddy could wait no longer, or maybe God needed her wonderful gift of the love of people and family to come and be a special angel at this particular time. One can only speculate, but it is not our's to question. He will always win. The only thing that he promise's us is that we have the choice of whether we want to be reunited with our loved ones again, it is for us to decide. I know I will be reunited with them someday, but right now, I am needed by my children and grandchildren.........so I will always give it my best shot.
As the girls and their family arrived today, they could smell the smell that my brother's and I remembered in days long past. It excited them to see the dressing come out of the oven, the cranberry sauce put in my special little heart bowl that it is always in. They smelled the smell of Thanksgiving....they smelled the smells that I remember so well coming from my grandmother's and mother's house when I walked thru the door. The turkey laid on it's platter, juicy roasted (and another one fried), just begging to be eaten.
Today, my middle daugter, Staci, Jack and Ali were not present for lunch. They had other plans with inlaws, and later came around four o'clock. But Shannon, my baby girl, was here for the first time in many years (as she is going thru a divorce sadly, and my grandson was with his father going out of state which was normal for all three of them when they were a family), and she was so excited to be with us, as we were to have her here. She has found out how important mother's can be, and understands the power of love that comes with being with your parents and family. Nathan was home from VMI, and ready for "some good food" as he put it. My oldest daughter, Christi, her husband Brad, along with 6 year old Ben and fifteen year old Jordan came with them. The rest of the lunch count consisted of Scott, myself, Nathan, Cristin ,and Les, and of course Scott's mother. Eleven in all for lunch, and we all sat around our large formal dining room table. The wine flowed modestly, the bowls were were passed around the table, and the meat was carved by Christi and Brad, rewarding Brad a drumstick since he carved for me.
The prayer of love and thanks came from our fifteen year old, Les, and also one from Ben. Then the seriousness of demolishing the meal I had prepared started being consumed. The talk was lively, and the eating was enjoyed by everyone, and once again my dressing was a hit. Thanks, mother! You taught me more than you will ever know.
While preparing the dressing, I still use a bit of sage that was my mother's. I am never sure how much is enough, but I could feel her presence. It was like I would add some, stir, and it would not be quite right. Scott would taste is and say, "I think it needs a bit more". That's when I started sprinkling some more into the mixture, and it was like mother was looking over my shoulder, perhaps guiding my hand to add just enough to make it taste like hers. She knew the tradition had to be kept alive and taught to my grandchildren so they could teach their children.
This story will give them a clue as to how this all started. After the lunch and dessert were served, everyone kind of laid back on the couches and chairs with the look of contentment of a full stomach, and good wine, and perhaps contempulating a nap. Some had to leave, and some came late. Ashlea, (John and Virginia's 16 year old daughter) showed up by herself and visited for about an hour and had to leave. Lil Brother and his wife, Carol rolled in by about 4:30 p.m., full from the lunch they had shared with the people in their Christian Ministries, and not long after that, Johnboy and Virginia came in. John was here for one thing and one thing only......Chocolate pie. The last piece of this pie had been eaten by Lil Brother not ten minutes before!
Oh well, at least he might come earlier next year. SO, all in all, our Thanksgiving was a wonderful time, and the temperature was about 70 degrees with the crisp leaves raining from the massive trees that surround our house.
As I was cleaning up the last of the dishes tonight, I felt the presence of mother leaving me, and letting me know how proud she was that we keep this tradition of love, family, and thankfulness alive and well.
I pray it will continue for a long, long time!
Sorry this got so long, but I am wound up. I think I am past the tired part and going on the "delerious" stage.
I hope all of you enjoyed your day as much as we did, and my wish for all of you is love, peace and happiness with your families for many years to come.
Love, Sunny
Yes, boys, I CAN cook when I want to!
[attachment 11552 Thanksgiving2006006.jpg]
Jordan, Me and Ben
[attachment 11553 Thanksgiving2006010.jpg]
Brad, my son in law carving the turkies
[attachment 11554 Thanksgiving2006011.jpg]
Brad helping serve the Turkey
[attachment 11555 Thanksgiving2006014.jpg]
Me and Johnboy's Daugher, Ashlea
[attachment 11556 Thanksgiving2006031.jpg]
our Thanksgiving Day. Like everyone else, our houses fill with the family that makes our lives so rich and full, and generally indulging in all the family recipes that our mothers and grandmothers before them handed down to us, for our family members to enjoy for years to come.
My mother's chicken and dressing is by far, the best I have ever tasted, and my entire family feels the same way. In November of 2000, mother left us on our own when she went to live in heaven with my father. He had been waiting on her to join him for twenty four years, and I know he was overjoyed when God made her look toward the light that led her to his side and be reunited with him.
Still, it made a change in my life so devastatingly painful, that tears still well up in my eyes at the very thought of her. The November she left us, there was a list of groceries she had on a pad of paper that she had made out so I could take her to the grocery store. She was again, planning on doing all of the cooking for a large crowd, and had every intention of preparing all of her favorite dishes for each one of us. It was truly apparent that she had no reason to believe that she would not be preparing this meal for us all. Her hospital visit was just a temporary interruption, and she knew at first that this would become a reality as soon as she was released from a brief hospital stay, and life would go on as normal. Alas, this was not meant to be, as God had other plans for her and took her quickly, with no indication to us that this was his plan. I suppose he felt as though we were adults, and we had our own families and grandchildren, and we would be able to carry on with the holidays for the first time without her presence. I did not want this, no one did, but we do not have the final word. And God won! Someday he will tell us why. As Lil Brother explained, we had lost our father some twenty four years earlier on November 20, quite unexpectedly also, and we were not prepared for either of their disappearance from our lives. I feel cheated. I still needed her guidance, and his too. I wanted them to get to know all of their grandchildren, but this too was just selfishness on our part. SO, November's hold no special meaning to me, Johnboy, or Little Brother, but for our family's sake, we must go thru the motions because of our children and grandchildren. To give them memories we they become adults, good memories.
I hope they will remember gathering at my house, visiting with their cousins, aunts and uncles and having a family gathering that is filled with love. That is my wish for them for years to come.
As I said before, my mother was famous for her Chicken and Dressing. I took it for granted that she would always be here to prepare it for all of us, along with a turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans, baked corn, fruit salad, and various cakes and pies, so I did not pay much attention to the way she prepared it. I can just remember upon entering her home, the fragrant smells that made the senses reel, and make your mouth water, knowing we would stuff ourselves as close to misery as we could. Everything she prepared was simply delicious. I remember standing beside her and asking each year, "Well, Mom...how much sage do you put in the dressing? How do you know you have put enough chicken broth in the cornbread? How do you know when it is all the way baked, and ready to eat?" You see? Bu the time I got to asking these questions, she had already had her strokes, and it was difficult for her to speak in complete sentences, but thank the good Lord above, I could get it out or her, and I finally wrote all the ingredients down the year before she died.
It took me two years to perfect this dressing, but on the third year of trying, I had finally got it down as perfect as I could. She never really baked by a recipe, and I had to see for myself what a "pinch" of this was, and a few "shakes" of something else was. That third year, I will never forget Lil Brother, and my oldest daughter Christi saying, "Mom/Sis, you finally have this down to a fine science, and it tastes just like Nanny's/mother's dressing." This made me very proud, that even though I did not know I would be having to take her place as the preparer of Thanksgiving Dinner, and probably should have paid closer attention, that I apparently had remembered more than I thought I had. While the food turns out great now,...there is still an ache in our hearts that she is not there sharing this special meal. It was not meant to be, but we are selfish, and could not understand why God would take her from us so soon! Maybe daddy could wait no longer, or maybe God needed her wonderful gift of the love of people and family to come and be a special angel at this particular time. One can only speculate, but it is not our's to question. He will always win. The only thing that he promise's us is that we have the choice of whether we want to be reunited with our loved ones again, it is for us to decide. I know I will be reunited with them someday, but right now, I am needed by my children and grandchildren.........so I will always give it my best shot.
As the girls and their family arrived today, they could smell the smell that my brother's and I remembered in days long past. It excited them to see the dressing come out of the oven, the cranberry sauce put in my special little heart bowl that it is always in. They smelled the smell of Thanksgiving....they smelled the smells that I remember so well coming from my grandmother's and mother's house when I walked thru the door. The turkey laid on it's platter, juicy roasted (and another one fried), just begging to be eaten.
Today, my middle daugter, Staci, Jack and Ali were not present for lunch. They had other plans with inlaws, and later came around four o'clock. But Shannon, my baby girl, was here for the first time in many years (as she is going thru a divorce sadly, and my grandson was with his father going out of state which was normal for all three of them when they were a family), and she was so excited to be with us, as we were to have her here. She has found out how important mother's can be, and understands the power of love that comes with being with your parents and family. Nathan was home from VMI, and ready for "some good food" as he put it. My oldest daughter, Christi, her husband Brad, along with 6 year old Ben and fifteen year old Jordan came with them. The rest of the lunch count consisted of Scott, myself, Nathan, Cristin ,and Les, and of course Scott's mother. Eleven in all for lunch, and we all sat around our large formal dining room table. The wine flowed modestly, the bowls were were passed around the table, and the meat was carved by Christi and Brad, rewarding Brad a drumstick since he carved for me.
The prayer of love and thanks came from our fifteen year old, Les, and also one from Ben. Then the seriousness of demolishing the meal I had prepared started being consumed. The talk was lively, and the eating was enjoyed by everyone, and once again my dressing was a hit. Thanks, mother! You taught me more than you will ever know.
While preparing the dressing, I still use a bit of sage that was my mother's. I am never sure how much is enough, but I could feel her presence. It was like I would add some, stir, and it would not be quite right. Scott would taste is and say, "I think it needs a bit more". That's when I started sprinkling some more into the mixture, and it was like mother was looking over my shoulder, perhaps guiding my hand to add just enough to make it taste like hers. She knew the tradition had to be kept alive and taught to my grandchildren so they could teach their children.
This story will give them a clue as to how this all started. After the lunch and dessert were served, everyone kind of laid back on the couches and chairs with the look of contentment of a full stomach, and good wine, and perhaps contempulating a nap. Some had to leave, and some came late. Ashlea, (John and Virginia's 16 year old daughter) showed up by herself and visited for about an hour and had to leave. Lil Brother and his wife, Carol rolled in by about 4:30 p.m., full from the lunch they had shared with the people in their Christian Ministries, and not long after that, Johnboy and Virginia came in. John was here for one thing and one thing only......Chocolate pie. The last piece of this pie had been eaten by Lil Brother not ten minutes before!
Oh well, at least he might come earlier next year. SO, all in all, our Thanksgiving was a wonderful time, and the temperature was about 70 degrees with the crisp leaves raining from the massive trees that surround our house.
As I was cleaning up the last of the dishes tonight, I felt the presence of mother leaving me, and letting me know how proud she was that we keep this tradition of love, family, and thankfulness alive and well.
I pray it will continue for a long, long time!
Sorry this got so long, but I am wound up. I think I am past the tired part and going on the "delerious" stage.
I hope all of you enjoyed your day as much as we did, and my wish for all of you is love, peace and happiness with your families for many years to come.
Love, Sunny
Yes, boys, I CAN cook when I want to!
[attachment 11552 Thanksgiving2006006.jpg]
Jordan, Me and Ben
[attachment 11553 Thanksgiving2006010.jpg]
Brad, my son in law carving the turkies
[attachment 11554 Thanksgiving2006011.jpg]
Brad helping serve the Turkey
[attachment 11555 Thanksgiving2006014.jpg]
Me and Johnboy's Daugher, Ashlea
[attachment 11556 Thanksgiving2006031.jpg]
