In late November, many leaves have turned their fall colors and/or fallen, there is a chill in the air, high school football is coming to an end, college football is approaching rivalry weekend, the NFL is More than halfway through its season, hockey and basketball are in their seasons, and the upcoming week has often been referred to as the busiest food shopping week of the year. It’s also the week before my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving Day.

When we celebrate many holidays and special days throughout the year, some have songs attached to them that people, especially those with young children, sing in the car while traveling, or at home at as the days pass and the holidays approach. The most obvious is Christmas with its many carols, hymns and songs, followed by our birthday with the traditional “Happy Birthday”, July 4th has its patriotic numbers, as does Memorial Day. Valentine’s Day has its love songs, and Thanksgiving has one that we sing even if we haven’t followed the lyrics, this one with the opening lyrics, “Over the river and across the woods, to grandmother’s, we’re going.”

We didn’t go to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, because I never knew my maternal grandmother, as she passed away before I was born, and although I remember my paternal grandmother and a few visits to she, first, we did. I didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving at her house, and secondly, she died when I was five. Nonetheless, we enjoyed singing this song and even sang it while watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special on television for many years.

I’ve already mentioned that Thanksgiving is also one of Dad’s favorite holidays. He was very fond of patriotic holidays, being that he was a veteran, and he loved Christmas, but Thanksgiving was a day to enjoy a day of reflection and gratitude for all the people and things we were blessed with to have in our lives. It’s a day to enjoy, to gather with family and friends, to break bread together, without worrying about the glitter, the wrapping, the hustle and bustle and the expense of shopping and buying gifts, sending cards, to the guarantee of what you have done. Don’t forget anyone before taking a lot of time to wrap those gifts as beautifully as possible, before someone tears the wrappers in the blink of an eye.

Thanksgiving is a day to enjoy foods that seem to be reserved for Thanksgiving, even though we sometimes eat them for Christmas as well. You can have them anytime, but for us, we mostly enjoyed them at Thanksgiving. Turkey, stuffing, candied yams, homemade fruit or vegetable breads, fresh rolls or breads, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked squash, cranberry sauce (fresh or canned), one green and yellow vegetable and Desserts like pumpkin and/or apple pie were a large part of our annual Thanksgiving feast at 92 Bowen St. in Jamestown growing up. After dessert, the fruit and nut bowl came out, complete with nut crackers and fruit and nut pickers for anyone who just wanted to snack on something. The children played in a back room, some went into the living room to watch football, some chose to sit at the dining room table and chat after the food was put away and the dishes were washed and put away until we needed it again about four hours later because Mom thought we would still be hungry after stuffing ourselves a few hours before, and a group of us headed to the kitchen to play a little poker.

Around 7 p.m., Mom and others would turn on the oven and prepare the chestnuts to be roasted and enjoyed after about a half hour in the oven. Then, years later, when we were adults and married, about an hour after enjoying the chestnuts, we, very slowly (compared to everything we had eaten), got up and made our version of this which we called “The five good Italian things”. -goodbye” (Ours: the one at the door, the one on the porch, the one on the front sidewalk, the one before getting in the car and the one sitting in the car with the engine running before leaving.) After us we We’re married and had kids, and we told the kids it was time to go, they knew it would be at least another hour before we got away from Mom and Dad’s house. It was always a wonderful day focused on family togetherness, incredibly delicious food, a bit of football, maybe a game of cards, a Pokeno or Tripoli, and if you could stay awake after the tryptophan and before the second meals and chestnuts, you can also enjoy fun conversations.

There were no gifts, except the gifts from each other in our lives, the food we were grateful to have to eat, the fellowship and laughter we were able to share, and the opportunity to celebrate all of this with each other. I guess that’s why I did like Dad and made Thanksgiving my favorite holiday.

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Share it in some way with those you love, those you may not know and who may not be as lucky to have what we do (give of your time, giving food, etc.), and look up to give thanks for the blessings. that have been blessed to us, and ask that those in need may also receive the blessings of God, through all of us who have been blessed.