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Lumpy mashed potatoes? Flavorless gravy? You’ll find a plethora of tips across the web for improving both. That’s not exactly what I’m writing about today.
Since George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789, the nation’s holiday devoted to offering up gratitude for our blessings has remained remarkably consistent. If not just in many of the food traditions, but in the practice of making it a gathering of family and close friends. It may be fashionable to sneer at mere tradition but what tradition provides is continuity. A way to bring people into a meaningful celebration of life and love. In a world filled with chaos, it provides an oasis and a way to connect generations. Not to say that many of the trappings of the holiday don’t evolve like families do, but keeping the core is key. Tip: identify your family’s traditions, share with the younger ones how similiar or different they were when you were their age.
Even honest atheists are not troubled by Thanksgiving’s origin as a time of prayer and reflection. From President Washington
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
When we forget gratitude, narcissism and a sense of entitlement rushes in. Tip: Don’t be shy about offering up more than a passing nod to saying Grace before the meal. State what you’re thankful for, then ask others to contribute their own “I’m thankful for …” You’ll find once the ball is rolling, some great thoughts, even some humorous ones, that will make for a memorable moment.
I really shouldn’t have to explain this one. Unless you or someone else is professionally on-call, this is definitely not a meal where all the members should be more involved in scrolling through social media than being social with their dinner partners. I’m old enough to remember the time before cell phones when the rule in our family that no one answered the phone during dinner, especially Thanksgiving. “If they love you, they’ll leave a message.”
Large or small, don’t be afraid of simple. Serving buffet style on paperplates is a great no-sweat option. On the other hand, don’t be afraid of ornate. Use that wedding china! Sitting in the cupboard might “save” a few pieces, but if you never use it or enjoy it, what are you waiting for? Too many young people are rejecting their mother’s or grandmother’s china because they don’t want to be burdened with fancy stuff they’ll “never use”. Show them that all that pretty stuff can and should be used and not just at Thanksgiving. It doesn’t even have to be matchy-matchy. Mix those patterns and stop worrying.
Don’t be afraid to shutdown burbling hostility when pink-haired cousin Phoebe and Uncle Bill in the red baseball cap are toe-to-toe about 2024. At minimum, tell them to take it outside before they curdle the gravy with their invective. Current events are tricky but the idea is to share with others what has been going on in our lives, not fling the yams around the dining room.
In closing, we need to shove the years of Thanksgivings when neo-Marxists like Obama admonished their followers to get in the faces of family and friends with the latest woke demands down the memory hole. My final tip for you is to make Thanksgiving about family and faith again. May your day be as warm and wonderful as you wish it.
That is my prayer.
featured image courtesy Click family archives, all rights reserved
GWB says: Make it God centered – gratitude, humility
THIS! More than anything else, actually give thanks. And you can’t do that without someone to whom to give thanks. This is most important of all traditions. If more of this had been done over the ages, our country would be more secure.
Ban the cell phone at the table
We don’t explicitly ban it. When we start having our conversations, it’s used to look up answers, to share photos and funny things. If we get phone calls, we check to see if it’s something very important – work or family crisis, or distant relatives calling us to join in our thanksgiving.
Show them that all that pretty stuff can and should be used and not just at Thanksgiving.
It’s our Polish pottery, for our table. The stuff we bought in a newly free Poland. Break it out and make it the “This is the stuff we get out when there’s a reason to celebrate! Yay!”
not fling the yams around the dining room
I dunno, that could be fun…. Hey, you wanted new traditions! 😉
That is my prayer.
Pray it often, Darleen. Our country needs it.
Cameron says: This is the second year in a row that Thanksgiving will be a quiet affair. My mother in law is coming over, my wife is cooking the dinner and it’ll be done within about two hours. My brother is with the extended family in NC and my parents are home in CA. We’ll talk on the phone of course but that’s pretty much it.
Happy Thanksgiving one and all.
Lewis says: This is the first thanksgiving in 50+ years that I am truly alone. My best buddy of 58 years is eating something in a memory care miles away from me while I am trying to start my recovery from caring for him for over half a decade.
Today I am truly grateful for the people who are caring for him now, for having time to quietly take a little walk without worry. I am also thankful for family, 3000 miles away, on the phone, and neighbor’s, who have only known me for a short 8 years, calling, inviting me to share with them, stopping by to see how I am.
No dinner to make, no dishes to wash, no worries about what people might think, and all the time in the world to thank God for all my blessings. I have never had quite a Thanksgiving like this, and it is above and beyond the best one I have ever had as far as blessings and thankfulness!
Be safe everyone and know that life is good, so very good in this country where Thanksgiving is a unique celebration!
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