As a kid, Thanksgiving was a much bigger deal than now. Family from all over the area would come together and spend the day at my grandparent's house or where ever we decided to have it. While in hindsight I cherish that time as those kinds of gatherings came to an end, but as a kid, I got bored since there was nothing on TV after the parade so I ended up watching movies. The hardest part was not eating anything until the dinner, it was a weird family rule when I was a kid. Being in western New York at the time the snow wasn't there yet, but the cold was and we would have a room just dedicated to coats and cold weather gear, usually was the downstairs office of my grandparent's place. Since I lived with my grandparents or were next door, I didn't have to worry about that. When I lived next door I'd run over there without a jacket. It wasn't that cold, usually a brisk 40 degrees out usually.

 

       

 

     When it came to family they sort of trickled in at their own pace. One or two would come in the morning while I was watching the parade, then more as the day went on. I would catch up with them sometimes, the usual questions of "How is school?", "How have you been?", and many other subjects have came up through the years as I got older. Slowly the dining room table was set up to fit the adults while the kids table was being made up in the kitchen. Yes, we had separate tables when we did the large dinners. The smell of turkey, stuffing, and pie filled the house as everyone's hunger started to take hold just before we would sit down to eat.

 

                                  

 

     Soon it was time to gather at the tables and food was served. My mother and I tended to argue over the turkey skin, still do to this day. But with the food at the tables, it's time to eat. There would be barely any leftovers as I and others would usually go for more food. My personal favorites were the turkey, stuffing, green beans, and apple pie. That's right, when it comes to the pie wars, I am on the side of Apple pie being the best, why? Where I lived at the time, there were apple orchards everywhere and still are. so I grew up on them and apple pie combines that sweet taste with the texture of the crust. While I am a fan of dutch apple pie, a classic styled pie is good too in terms of presentation on this holiday.

 

     Once dinner is done and family has left, we have one more tradition. We set up and decorate the Christmas tree. it was always one of my favorites as a kid since it meant Christmas was coming. But in hindsight, I also enjoyed being with family like that, just together and having fun. 

 

 

     Time changes a lot of things, family comes and go, they pass away, and they grow apart. After my grandmother passed away in 2003, things changed. We tried to keep tradition going, but it didn't last. What was once a large family gathering, now was just my nuclear family. The other family members do their own thing and we do ours. It's something that is hard to accept sometimes. Even sixteen years later, it's hard to believe sometimes how things changed. What was once a large gathering of family is now just a small family thing if that at times. But I still love the memories as they continue to thrive in my mind as I celebrate Thanksgiving each year. So enjoy your friends and family's company and make many happy memories. Happy Thanksgiving, and remember to live life and live nostalgic.