Memories of Thanksgiving....
Nov. 27th, 2020 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1This afternoon -- actually, the past few days -- I was thinking about Thanksgivings past. The days when I would get together with my parents, relatives (often my Uncle Joe), or good friends. Few of us had any of that aspect of the holiday this year, as we mostly isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of my close friends -- Heather aka maedbh7 -- wrote about her Thanksgiving experiences over the years. I'm inspired to do the same.
1970s: Mom did all the cooking. She'd start around 10 am with the turkey and stuffing. Dad would watch the Macy's parade. I don't remember if my sister helped out or not. And I would take some of the larger pieces from the Pepperidge Farm stuffing and eat them. In the afternoon, I'd hang out in my room. Dad would drive to the Black Rock section of Buffalo to pick up my uncle Joe (my mom's brother). We'd set the dining room table, and eat dinner around 4:30. We usually had the side dishes of yams (canned sweet potatoes), salad, and canned cranberry sauce. (We didn't have green bean casserole or sweet potato casserole.) Afterward. Dad would watch the football games, and take Uncle Joe home. There may have been a year or two when we had the extended family on my dad's side -- my aunt Anna (and her family), my aunt Josephine (and her family), and my aunt Angie (and her family). One of the two uncle Tonys wanted spaghetti and meatballs, so we made some for him. We also got together for Christmas, but my dad and my aunts would rotate the host duties so that we hosted once every 4 years.
1980s: More of the same, except I was the one who picked up uncle Joe and took him home. My sister went off to Wyoming for grad school in '83. I still don't remember helping out in the kitchen. Perhaps my mom thought I'd get underfoot and in the way.
1990s: By this time, I had moved to Dayton. I often made the drive back to Buffalo to be with my parents for Thanksgiving, and spent Friday and Saturday with local friends. I may have skipped 1995 and 1996, as I went to Chicago for the Visions conventions those two years.
2000s: While Rebecca and I were together, we had Thanksgiving at home most of those years; I remember driving up to Buffalo only once or twice. Rebecca and Maria moved out in the fall of 2006, and I resumed going back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving. The last Thanksgiving I had with Dad was in 2008.
2010s: The last Thanksgiving I had with Mom was in 2011. Since 2012, I've celebrated/observed it with local friends here: Alice, Michael, Magdalena, and the MVUUF "orphans" -- those who didn't have family in the area. These were mostly pot lucks -- the host/hostess would provide turkey, and guests would bring side dishes. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Maria would go to her friend Zon's family for Thanksgiving. (Zon and I dated for several months back in 1993, before I started dating Rebecca in '96. I haven't been exactly welcome in her world since then. C'est la vie.)
This year, I spent it alone. This isn't the first year I've done this. I had no desire to invite myself to Rebecca's for dinner; that would be tacky. I cooked a 3-pound turkey breast and some side dishes -- stuffing, yams, green beans, cranberry sauce, biscuits, and turkey gravy. I watched a little bit of the Macy's parade, and mostly listed to music during the day. I also talked with my friend Howard over the phone.
One of my close friends -- Heather aka maedbh7 -- wrote about her Thanksgiving experiences over the years. I'm inspired to do the same.
1970s: Mom did all the cooking. She'd start around 10 am with the turkey and stuffing. Dad would watch the Macy's parade. I don't remember if my sister helped out or not. And I would take some of the larger pieces from the Pepperidge Farm stuffing and eat them. In the afternoon, I'd hang out in my room. Dad would drive to the Black Rock section of Buffalo to pick up my uncle Joe (my mom's brother). We'd set the dining room table, and eat dinner around 4:30. We usually had the side dishes of yams (canned sweet potatoes), salad, and canned cranberry sauce. (We didn't have green bean casserole or sweet potato casserole.) Afterward. Dad would watch the football games, and take Uncle Joe home. There may have been a year or two when we had the extended family on my dad's side -- my aunt Anna (and her family), my aunt Josephine (and her family), and my aunt Angie (and her family). One of the two uncle Tonys wanted spaghetti and meatballs, so we made some for him. We also got together for Christmas, but my dad and my aunts would rotate the host duties so that we hosted once every 4 years.
1980s: More of the same, except I was the one who picked up uncle Joe and took him home. My sister went off to Wyoming for grad school in '83. I still don't remember helping out in the kitchen. Perhaps my mom thought I'd get underfoot and in the way.
1990s: By this time, I had moved to Dayton. I often made the drive back to Buffalo to be with my parents for Thanksgiving, and spent Friday and Saturday with local friends. I may have skipped 1995 and 1996, as I went to Chicago for the Visions conventions those two years.
2000s: While Rebecca and I were together, we had Thanksgiving at home most of those years; I remember driving up to Buffalo only once or twice. Rebecca and Maria moved out in the fall of 2006, and I resumed going back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving. The last Thanksgiving I had with Dad was in 2008.
2010s: The last Thanksgiving I had with Mom was in 2011. Since 2012, I've celebrated/observed it with local friends here: Alice, Michael, Magdalena, and the MVUUF "orphans" -- those who didn't have family in the area. These were mostly pot lucks -- the host/hostess would provide turkey, and guests would bring side dishes. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Maria would go to her friend Zon's family for Thanksgiving. (Zon and I dated for several months back in 1993, before I started dating Rebecca in '96. I haven't been exactly welcome in her world since then. C'est la vie.)
This year, I spent it alone. This isn't the first year I've done this. I had no desire to invite myself to Rebecca's for dinner; that would be tacky. I cooked a 3-pound turkey breast and some side dishes -- stuffing, yams, green beans, cranberry sauce, biscuits, and turkey gravy. I watched a little bit of the Macy's parade, and mostly listed to music during the day. I also talked with my friend Howard over the phone.
