As I have tried to focus on the words of Thanksgiving, I have come up with a few that are most meaningful.
The first one I wrote about was gratitude, adding in thanksgiving and being grateful.
The second word I am focusing on today is tradition.
Dictionary.com says: it is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or practice.
It is also a long established inherited way of thinking, a continuing pattern of culture belief or practices.
When I think of our homes of origin, my husbands family had very different traditions then my side of the family.
We could not and never would have Thanksgiving without my grand mother’s traditional menu.
That was a tradition….a knowing, a familiar experience, even long after she passed away.
Now I am not just speaking of the food that would be on the table, but even more when I was growing up, our tradition was the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade.
I remember to this day of getting ready, all day long it seemed, doing our hair, getting dressed up, making ourselves presentable.
I remember those prickly black metal rollers in my hair with a plastic stick holding it in, till my hair dried in hopes of making it curly.
I remember we always dressed up. It was not ever a casual day, no it was special, you were expected to look nice.
That is a part of tradition that I am talking about.
My husbands side, of his family often ate in a much more casual setting.
In our house, it was a time of pretty and nice and festive and formal.
I believe every one has traditions they remember around the Thanksgiving holiday.
For some maybe there was nothing to expect. Nothing repeated. Just a dinner.
In my home of origin. We knew we would always have Turkey, potatoes, gravy (oh so good), dressing and green beans always with bacon, rolls covered in butter, relish dishes of pickles and olives, carrot slices and celery, oh and never forget the pumpkin pie with whipping cream, as you sat next to grandpa’s warm fire in the fireplace.
Traditions are good.
I love the memory of our grandpa and grandma’s traditions.
It really is a very important part of the day we call Thanksgiving.