We had a houseful of company for Thanksgiving dinner and an abundance of good food. Thanksgiving is a time to count all the blessings that enrich our lives and make our hearts happy and one of the most beautiful blessings in all of life is family and the special love and closeness we share. I was fortunate to have all my siblings present and all the nieces and nephews except niece Melissa in Virginia. Then there were a couple of greatnieces and a great-nephew. We were especially pleased to have nephew David and his family home from Connecticut as we hadn’t seen them in over a year.
Monday was a busy day with lots of chores to do. I paid the water bill on my way to work and at lunchtime picked up prescriptions at the pharmacy, returned a movie I’d borrowed and went to the postoffice to buy stamps. On Tuesday afternoon I bought the groceries to prepare our holiday dinner and that evening prepared chili dogs topped with chopped onions and cheese for supper.
Dodie and I drove to Siloam Springs Wednesday to join our newspaper colleagues there for a company Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed a bountiful potluck meal featuring both turkey and ham, dressing, potatoes and gravy, vegetables, salads and rolls. There were a variety of desserts and I chose a slice of pumpkin roll and some cheesecake topped with cranberry sauce. When we returned to town I found that the mail carrier had delivered a cute card and note from my friend in Tulsa.
We had a visit from Jim’s mom and stepdad soon after breakfast on Thanksgiving Day. After they left I stirred up the ingredients for a pumpkin pie and put it in the oven to bake. Its good spicy smells filled the house as I dusted and ran the vacuum cleaner. I stopped to fix a late lunch of spaghetti and garlic bread and then tackled the biggest chore of all, clearing all the clutter from the dining room table so we could eat there on Friday. Nephew David, his wife Maureen and daughter Laurel were the first to arrive Friday morning. He soon went to the store, returned to prepare and appetizer platter of cheeses and small sausages and stir up a bowlful of ambrosia. Nephew Mike was the next to arrive, then Mary Alice bringing a turkey she’d cooked. Jim began peeling potatoes while I was cooking breakfast and soon put on a ham, dressing and green beans. Richard showed up, then niece Laura and sister Nancy bringing a bowlful of corn. Unfortunately the electricity had just gone off so she had to take it back home to warm it. We hadn’t made gravy so we just used broth from the turkey for our potatoes and dressing. The power returned just as we were sitting down to eat so I was able to brown the rolls. Nephew Jason, great-nephew Austin, the kids and grandkids soon arrived and finally nephew Dustan, his wife Cecile and baby girl Nevaeh, with Cecile’s tasty cheese ball and crackers. When everyone gathered there were 22 present and after Richard gave the blessing there was a lull in the laughter and conversation while everyone ate their fill. After our meal I prepared plates for aunts Leta and Leda and David and I visited them and took them a sample of our dinner. We had a peaceful weekend after all the activity on Friday. Jim made a big pot of turkey soup on Saturday and we enjoyed steaming bowlsful for our lunch. That evening I ate a piece of pecan pie as we watched the OU-OSU football game. We awoke on Sunday morning to a dusting of snow and flurries continued throughout the day. Jim added some chicken stock and a can of tomatoes to the turkey soup and it made a tasty meal for a second day. We did laundry and I shopped at the dollar store in the afternoon, then watched Sunday Night Football that evening.
—Susan Holland
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