Thanksgiving Memories

1) The first Thanksgiving Steve and I shared together we drove to my step-father's farm in Gap Mills, WV. The family attendees were so many that Steve and I had to share a single-size bed...and we fit in it!

2) That year we were the newest couple in the family, so we were assigned to bring a cake. I found a super yummy recipe for Fresh Apple Cake which has became a Thanksgiving tradition thereafter, including that the newest couple in the family is assigned to bring the Fresh Apple Cake.

3) Our second Thanksgiving in Oxford felt the most like the original one to me. My Dad was here visiting and we had invited some friends over to share our dinner. Steve and I were just starting out and our means were simple at best; also, we're county folk, easy-going, and usually not too dressed-up. At the last minute we invited Sister Genetti and her family to join us, as President Genetti had just passed away. The rented house in which we lived had a long narrow room that reached the width of the house. We just kept adding small tables end to end until we had one long enough, we dressed it with plain sheets as table cloths. I had a lot of candle sticks, and bud vases which we filled with fall findings from our yard. I had just enough table settings, with various levels of formality, to fill the table. We even made place cards and specially-folded the napkins. Dad sat at the very end, and the "table" was lined with people on either side. I am so grateful the Genetti's conceded to come. The house was full and warm with the Spirit. That was a very poignant, beautiful Thanksgiving day.

4) Years later, my mother was visiting us here in Oxford and prepared the turkey for our Thanksgiving. She's very old-school and roasts her "bird" at 250 degrees for a very long time. Steve was hovering over her, expressing concern that the turkey wouldn't get cooked sufficiently. She reassured him that she had a meat thermometer tending to the appropriate temperature. Finally, I heard Steve instruct my mother firmly that he did not want the turkey to come out of the oven until the meat thermometer registered 350 degrees!" With a quizzical look she queried his decree back to him. And he insistently repeated his order. "The interior of that turkey must be 350 degrees!" ...Mother played it so well, straight faced and calmly she just clarified it with him until Steve realized what he was asking. Steve will never live that one down!

5)The first year we invited my brother to Thanksgiving Dinner while he was living in Memphis, he arrived shortly before dinner time. When I called everyone to the table, he exclaimed, "I'm amazed, Tina! You got everything to come out and be ready at the same time, on time! That's not easy to do, and you did it." Hans only knew me too well! And as his sibling, I knew he was expressing shock that I had accomplished this feat. He was even more astounded when I repeated the triumph the next year. I think of his praise now and then, when things aren't turning out for me, and remember that least I can get all the dishes for Thanksgiving Dinner on the table...on time.

6) Val C. Bagley, the LDS cartoonist, served his mission in our area in Virginia, shortly after we joined the church. Mother always had the missionaries over often, and always for the holiday meals. Elder Bagley recorded his mission in his journal as series of sketches or cartoons. Somehow, he ended up in our area and our home for both of his mission holiday seasons. It's fun to look at his first published books and see cartoons he drew as a direct result of experiences that he had in our home, like my brother stomping on his foot. Thanksgiving always makes me think of missionaries and our military men and women. I'm grateful for their service.