Thankful

[JackFavell]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

And a special thanks to each and every one of you for making my life a LOT more enjoyable. I don't know what I would do without you all.

[Uncle Stevie]

Hi everyone,

I am relatively new on this board but feel absolutely at home. I, like you, am an old movie fan and love this site to open up my thoughts and mind about the subject I love- Classic film. Thank you for letting me rest here for a while. I hope I am welcome and promise not to upset your family of friends. I hope to contribute in the very best way.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and a very joyous holiday season.

Sincerely

Uncle Stevie

[movieman1957]

You are certainly welcome here and we are glad to have you. Don't worry about upsetting anyone. If you have something provocative to say let 'er rip. We have had some dandy discussions and mostly with a minimum of controversy.

You are already contributing plenty of we enjoy it.

[knitwit45]

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving.

I have to ask seeing as I'm running backwards and forwards, buying gifts, organising the school fair, baking cakes for the Christmas productions, sorting out my Christmas cards and the kids etc. How do you find time to have Thanksgiving too?

It depends on who's doing the cooking. A fellow our company does business with stopped in Weds and said, "I love Thanksgiving! All I have to do is show up and eat food!" Most people I know take at least one dish of food to the gathering, so the cook doesn't have quite so much to prepare. (Other than Cleaning the House for Company, making sure all the silverware and dinnerware is clean and presentable, thinking about a "theme" for the decorations, scratching said "theme" in favor of clean and presentable, dealing with lots of "help" in the kitchen, then dealing with the cleanup when all the "help" goes home....finally....)

So is it like Christmas but without the presents? Do you have to go to work the next day? I love Christmas but there comes a point when the kids have gone to bed that I hope that the guests will get tired and go home (they never do) over exposure to one's in laws from 10 am until late is copeable just once a year.

I moved this conversation over from the Candids thread.

Anybody else have thoughts on this conversation???

[JackFavell]

That's funny, knitty! I almost replied and then canceled out of my post because I thought I didn't really have anything important to say.

I guess I am lucky that my mother in law and my father don't usually stay longer than a couple of hours. I usually start the meal at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so they can get home early-ish. The last few years, they just seem to be rushing out the door - I think it's age related, not because I am an ungracious host! At least I hope not. They used to stay till about eight, but then everyone would be falling asleep...

This year went really well. I was very happy, because my dad didn't insist on making something. Every year, he makes something so huge that no one can eat it, no matter which part of the dinner he chooses to make. He also insists on creating the serving size, rather than letting people serve themselves. It usually involves a lot of prep work once he gets to my house, to plate everything the way he wants it and to pour out any special condiments he has created. He always says he needs me to be his sous-chef. I need to have everything done by the time he gets here so I can help him get his stuff together. Usually, I have no idea what he wants me to do, so then he has to explain it all. I try to do my best following his instructions, but I never get it right. I get very frustrated with the whole rigmarole, and the way that he takes over my kitchen like he's the king of everything. I know this makes me sound like a harridan, but I really do try not to show my irritation when we all sit down to eat.

This year, the meal preparation went smooth as silk, and I was in a good mood by the time dinner was on the table. I hope this is the start of a new tradition. I had forgotten how much I actually like Thanksgiving!

[movieman1957]

Alison;

That is a pretty good description. The fact that there are no gifts is part of the appeal for some. Many do work the next day. It is a big shopping day. A lot of crazy people come out and there often is trouble. I think it can be ridiculous but others really enjoy it.

For a host of reasons this may have been my worst Thanksgiving. Just glad it is over. Christmas has to be better. It has to be.

[JackFavell]

Aww, Chris! I'm sorry your day was not so hot. I hope it's nothing serious, and I truly hope in the next few weeks until Christmas everything gets better for you.

[klondike]

.

For a host of reasons this may have been my worst Thanksgiving. Just glad it is over. Christmas has to be better. It has to be.

I'm sorry to hear that, Chris.
I can certainly empathize; Deb & I thought the big meal would be quiet & happy, with just our eldest son for company, but two minutes after saying grace, his recently separated wife called from Virginia to inform him (with heinously pinpoint cruelty) that she wouldn't be bringing their two little girls up for this weekend to Vermont, as had been planned.
It was more than Wes could bear, and he wept hotly in desperate loneliness for the next 3 or 4 minutes, choking all our hearts for the balance of our appetite, which didn't last for long.
His brother, nephews & various cousins arrived during the next hour for drinks, football & desserts . . but for three of us, the shadow remained to darken the day.
Xmas will be better, my Friend, for both our families . . like you said, it has to be, and so it will!

[srowley75]

I guess it's been an unhappy Thanksgiving this year all around.

This was our first year without both my grandparents (on Mom's side - Grandma died in May and Grandpa in Aug.) so my aunt and mother were torn up emotionally for most of the day. Adding to that, this week would have been Grandma's birthday. I can deal with it a bit better because my grandparents, as I knew them, were "gone" for some time before their bodies actually quit - Grandpa had dementia and had several strokes which affected his speech, etc. Grandma was basically bedridden and on oxygen and a couple dozen meds which messed with her mood and speech, while all the time she struggled for every breath.

Then my one remaining grandparent (Dad's mother) was just released from a nursing facility this week after a ministroke last month - she started to walk home by herself before Dad and his sister were able to make it to pick her up and take her home, where she'd be staying with my aunt. She's getting better day by day but this Thanksgiving wasn't great for her either - among other things, she's emotionally unstable.

I don't think Christmas will be better this year, really, but perhaps with time it will get better. Mom's sister has been depressed to a frightening extent.

-S.

[knitwit45]

I almost replied and then canceled out of my post because I thought I didn't really have anything important to say.

Alison,Wendy, Chris, Steve, K,:
We sometimes get seduced or shoved into thinking our feelings or emotions are not important or worthwhile, but it simply isn't true. This is our 'safe' place, where we can share joys, sorrows, happy surprises and sad disappointments, in the knowledge that there are others here who truly care.
So, even though this has not been a happy time for many here, I am truly thankful for all of you.

[JackFavell]

Same here, knitty.

And I must say, I feel a fool for complaining now. I am exceedingly lucky.

[knitwit45]

But that's what I mean! We are told our feelings aren't important and they are. Remember, this is The Safe Place...the OASIS....

[movieman1957]

Klondike:

I swear I don't know how you and the family do it. When it rains it floods. Mine was nothing like that. Blessings on you and the family.

Steve:

I fear you are right for this year. It won't seem right Christmas morning if they were always there. It was like that with my late grandmother. Time will help. Soon, I hope, the sorrow will be replaced by wonderful memories.

Wendy and Nancy:

Things are mostly my own hurdles. Self inflicted stress. You (and others) are always there with a kind word and support. That is what makes this a great place. We share and we care and someone is listening.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks for bringing me over here, I had no idea we had our own Thanksgiving thread.

Wendy, your dad sounds just like mine. Since he retired he discovered cooking in a big way and my mother who has cooked the family meals for 40 years is relagated to washing up duties although she looks over his shoulder constantly. Dad has every kitchen utensil, cake tin, loaf tin etc that aayone could ever need. He doesn't bring a course at Christmas, no we have to replay it again on Boxing day and have turkey with all the trimmings again, only with much bigger portions. All this goes on whilst my mother hovers at his shoulder making sure that he isn't doing anything wrong. Then he doesn't sit down with us to eat, he supervises and sits on a stool. Then Mum gets her own back, she brings out the pudding just as the kids are starting their dinner and all they want than is the trifle thats in front on them.

Then the next day we go to our in laws. One can get really fed up of turkey.

I hope your Christmas's are all better than your Thanksgiving.

[JackFavell]

Oh, you make me laugh, Alison. Your mum and dad sound so funny. Maybe it isn't as funny when you are living it?

Tell me, what is the trifle like? I am curious if it is the Christmas pudding I have gotten before, pre-packaged and very much like our fruitcake with citroen and candied fruit, very sweet with a brandy sauce over the top? I found it far too sweet for my taste, but I'd like to know what the real tradition is, not something that was made for Americans based on Charles Dickens.