Re: Thanksgiving Streetwise

11/17/09 - posted by Mary-Ann

The Thanksgivings described sound an awful lot like our own, and I'll bet those of many of yours, too. We always gathered at Mom & Dad's with hardly a variation from the menu - tradition prevailed. They always had Easter dinner, too. The one new thing that became a regular part of the after-dinner-around-the-table entertainment was when Dad, with a couple of grandkids on his knees & the other two hanging on led us all in singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad" at the tops of our voices. When the kids grew older, the singing faded away. Then one dinner, many years later, our two girls had the same thought. After dinner, they jumped up from their chairs and putting their arms around their grandpa, started singing that old song again, with everyone joining in. Dad died the following February and I'm still filled with wonder at their timing.

I took over from Mom for several years after she died. Now we still eat from her dining room table, for a while at my son's house and now, this year, the table and the dinner moved to my daughter's.