Journal Prompt for November-A Thanksgiving Journal Prompt. Describe Thanksgiving in Your Childhood Home

 Here we are entering the holiday season.  That got me thinking of my childhood Thanksgiving with my family.  So the journal prompt for November is "Describe Thanksgiving in Your Childhood Home."

As a kid, every year, I was excited and looked forward to our Thanksgiving celebration. For one thing, we had several days away from school, which was always a plus.

Usually, two to three days before the big day, Uncle Leslie and Aunt Charlotte would appear. This would mean I would have to give up my bed for the floor, but that was ok because they were family members I adored.

Preparation for our Thanksgiving Dinner began several days in advance of the holiday. Mom always made a pumpkin pie and a sweet potato casserole, and Aunt Charlotte made her onion-heavy cole slaw which I learned, over the years, to look forward to.

One of my favorite foods on our thanksgiving dinner table was stuffing. Mom made a wonderful bread stuffing. I remember the loaves of bread, butter, onions, celery, and celery seeds. I recall helping her tear the bread into pieces for this simple yet delicious side dish. She would occasionally make Oyster stuffing for my brother Jimmy. I can only remember that I thought it smelled awful, and I don't think I ever tried it.

I can't remember praying before the meal in the early days; we may have, I just don't recall. I do remember praying in my teen years after I became a Christian. I probably only remember that because I was shy and did not want to be the center of attention, so it may have been traumatic:-)

I remember I loved the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and lima beans we had every year. Dad usually had his wine. He loved Manischewitz red wine. Sometimes there was happy banter around the table, occasionally complete silence, and sometimes discord, but we all enjoyed the good food regardless of the mood.

After stuffing ourselves, we always found room for pie. I remember being so tired after dinner that I just wanted to go to bed. Sleeping in the middle of the day was not an option in our house. We had things to do.

After the big meal, we did have our form of thanksgiving traditions, whether we liked them or not. Poor mom and Aunt Charlotte did all the meal cleanup. The rest of us took a long walk in the woods with dad, and I loved that part of the day. After that, we had the tradition of cleaning the garage. Most of the time in cleaning the garage, we were constantly scolded for our inability to do the task correctly.  I hated that part of the day, although I did get away with less scolding because I was the only girl, so my brothers got the bulk of the corrections.

Was my childhood Thanksgiving perfect? No, the day had its good and bad attributes. All things considered, I would love to enjoy one more thanksgiving with my Mom and Dad and my brothers David, Jim, and Bruce. Experiencing the day from where I am now in my life would probably give me a different perspective on just how wonderful it was.