What are your favorite Thanksgiving memories?

[Chromez 0]

Well, Thanksgivings almost upon us and I thought it would be cool to hear some of your favorite Thanksgiving memories. I'll share mine:

 

My family has always celebrated Thanksgiving in a traditional fashion with all the classic dishes served to lots of family with football echoing from the living room. Usually we travel down to the Flint area where most of our extended family lives which is about a three hour drive from Traverse City where I currently reside. Though its now become a cliche, it is true that Michigan weather is unpredictable. The year I turned 16 I decided that that I was going to drive separate from my parents to apparently "show off" my newly acquired license. So I left about an hour earlier than everyone else to get a head start. As I'm approaching an hour into my drive I'm suddenly in a whiteout and it seems like every time I drive on the express way there's someone behind me riding my tail at 90 who refuses to pass me. Now keep in mind that I'm in a 92 Lumina with a bad transmission which had to be driven in third gear or it would slip. So trying to be a nice guy I try to pull of to the side of the road and let speed racer behind me pass. Well what I thought was the side of the road ended up being 20 feet from the road in a foot of snow. I tried for a good half hour to get my car unstuck by using a windshield scraper as a shovel,call me Macgyver. I couple of motorist pulled off the road to try to help me and eventually my parents showed up and we called a tow truck. Collectively we decided that this year it wasnt worth it to drive the rest the way and booked a hotel room in Grayling. We drove there which was about 45 minutes back towards home with 6 people in a small SUV packed tight. With no way to make a proper dinner and no real restaurant selection we ended up sitting in a hotel room together eating Burger King watching the Lions play. At first I was disappointed but then I realized I was with people I love watching football and talking and just being thankful to have such great people that cared about me.

[mikechell 0]

Well, you wanted traditions, mine's not as good as yours.

I don't speak to my family much anymore. Wife and her mother are the only family I care to be with, so we have a small get-together. None of us watch football, so we either play cards, or watch a movie. Usually, Wife and mom end up talking and spending time, and I go fishing.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Chromez and Mike, both of your stories sound pretty good to me.

 

Growing up in Missouri, it was usually just the traditional Thanksgiving fare, but more often than not eaten with just my parents and sisters. Some years we'd go to the extended family gathering, other years not, depending on who was not speaking to whom. I do have fond memories of the "kids table" at my maternal grandmother's house, which was a card table set up in the living room, which we (my sister and cousins and I) liked because it was out of sight and sound of the kitchen table where the adults ate, so we could talk the way kids talk when they're by themselves, and we could watch tv--no football though. Not a single sports fan in my extended family as I recall--probably why I am indifferent to sports to this day. We watched a lot of "Gunsmoke" re-runs, and Sunday evening Disney movies. The food was unbelievable--not fancy, just the best turkey-and-trimmings I've ever had and in such quantities as to stagger the imagination. There were always two big turkeys and a big ham, endless Corningware casserole dishes bearing those back-of-the-soup-can recipes that no one seems to make anymore that always featured odd combinations of ingredients like niblet corn, canned mushrooms and Chow Mein noodles or something like that. And literal mountains of mashed potatoes and stuffing.

If we went to the gathering of my Dad's side of the family, you never knew what you'd find alongside the turkey, but it was usually something that had been shot the day before--rabbit, squirrel, and the occasional raccoon which did NOT taste like chicken but was still interesting.

 

Probably the most memorable Thanksgiving for me was the time my parents, who had recently decided to become church-goers, accepted an invitation to have Thanksgiving dinner with our minister and his wife. To understand why this was so memorable, re-read the paragraph above about the insane quantities of food that we'd come to associate with this holiday, then picture our faces as our hostess walked out of the kitchen proudly bearing a small serving platter on which were arranged eight neat slices (one per diner!) of turkey breast. That was it! No turkey, just the breast, and just enough for a few bites each per person. Oh, the horror...you never saw four people with bigger fake smiles and phony enthusiasm for a meal. Needless to say, we went back to preparing our own feasts after that.

 

Now that I'm married to my second wife, we usually go to her extended family's gathering, and that's always a good time. Lots of hunters and fishermen to talk to, HUGE feed, usually featuring some excellent fried walleye and perch from local waters.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Our Thanksgivings are spent the same each year so no one in particular really stands out as the favorite, they are all very enjoyable. Since my father passed away back in 1996 and I have chosen the single life and no wife or kids of my own then Thanksgiving is spent with my Mom, Sister, Brother in law, Niece & Nephew. We usually spend about 8 hrs together eating dinner and watching a Christmas movie or two.

[spm 0]

Pheasant hunting with my father. My father owned his own shop and worked six days a week. It was illegal to hunt on Sundays, so we would go out on Thanksgiving morning while my mother prepared the traditional meal. I looked forward to it every year ...being in the field with my dad.

 

steve

[essequamvideri 0]

Mine is a bit different, I was 17.

Mom was trying a new stuffing receipt with a wine base to it. Early Thursday morning I was waken to a large boom. I ran into the kitchen to find my Mom and Dad cleaning the floor and wall in front of the open oven door. There was stuffing three feet up the wall.

OR

The next year Mom decided she wanted to raise a turkey. It became more of a pet than food. She told me that it was time to "take care of Peepers". Yes that was the name of the bird. I grabbed the ax and headed out to the pen. Mom comes into the pen and picks up the turkey. She cuddled and pet and talked to the bird.. She looks at me with doe eyes and says, it's all yours.and walks away. What do you do at that point?

 

Michael

[Fshflys 0]

Most recently, last year, I was fishing the Owens River, here in California, migratory fish from Crowley Lake travel upstream to spawn, I hooked a Rainbow that when it jumped my thought was "Holy sh!t, he's as big as my leg!" Now I'm only 5'6", my inseam is 30" - my guess, this fish was 27", 8 - 10lbs. Didn't land it, but it got my heart pounding. This year, I'm going back!

 

spm - I enjoyed yours, allways nice to remember rituals with Dad.

 

35 years ago I was dating an Italian girl, her Aunt & Uncle's Thankgsiving started with Wedding soup, next on to Ravioli, Gnochi's & other pastas, then finish with the normal Turkey, Dressing & all the fixings. No wonder the Uncle died of a heart attack!

 

When my kids were in elementary school, my wife's Aunt lived 12 miles away in San Clemente. The kids & I would ride down to the beach & south to San Clemente along the beach. I was thinking about that yesterday while riding my bike.

[Stevester 0]

Like spm, pheasant hunting with my dad and our pointer. Thanksgiving was usually at our house but as long as we were back by 1PM we were good. My grandmother usually made the turkey and my aunt made some of the dishes so my mom wasn't making everything. We didn't have a real big family but it was still a tight fit in the little house my parents had when I was a young kid. They got a bigger one when I started high school so the kids didn't have to eat on the porch which meant that holiday meals didn't end up in food fight between me, my brother and our cousins.

 

Steve

[kennebec12 0]

Our Thanksgiving dinners had always been pretty normal, now that I'm married and my brothers married, I have to be at three dinners every year and usually eat enough to sustain half of Africa.

 

But a long time ago we used to have dinner at my grandparents house then go to church. One particularly memorable year we were all eating dinner and everyone was finished but me, and I'll be damned if I didn't get to finish my mashed potatoes. Everyone was pestering me but I sat there and forced em down since that's my favorite part, forget the turkey, save the best for last. Finally I finished up and we headed out, a couple miles down the road we came upon a terrible car accident. One car, a volvo wagon was upside down and bent around a tree with smoke rolling out of it, and the little ford ranger that had pulled out in front of it had the front end completely flattened. This being the small town that I came from, we knew both drivers, and they were both seriously injured. My dad and my uncles managed to rescue the woman from the burning car, and check on the man in the truck. My aunt's high-tailed back to our friends house a mile up the road and called the ambulance (No cell service on the old bag phone out there back then). Luckily, they both recovered fine, and had I not been a stubborn child and finished my mashed potatoes it would have undoubtedly been a four car pile up. So now I give thanks for mashed potatoes, small towns, and great friends who will always lend a helping hand.

[ihang10 0]

One in particular stands out, '95, it was the second year we were married. We went to the UP for Thanksgiving which was a tradition in my wife's family for nearly 70 years. Maybe 8" of snow and this was the first and last time I was able to deer hunt with my wife's grandfather. It was a classic day, one Norman Rockwell would have been pleased to record. We didn't tag any deer but we didn't need to either.

 

I guess '94 was memorable too, the dog got ahold of the entire pumpkin pie and had she had an awful time dealing with that for a few days.

[Knuckledragger 0]

My favorite memory on Thanksgiving happens every year.

 

Its when all my in-laws drive away and their taillights fade away into the night.

[flytire 0]

eating like a pig then taking a nap after/while watching the same football team play over and over year after year.

 

yawn!

[Chromez 0]

My favorite memory on Thanksgiving happens every year.

 

Its when all my in-laws drive away and their taillights fade away into the night.

Thats awesome! haha

[Kudu 0]

The best were in the 70's and 80's spent as a kid hanging out with my cousins playing football, basketball, shooting bb guns, and generally staying away from the adults as much as possible. Tomorrow I plan to get up ask the boy if he wants to squirrel hunt a little, maybe rabbit as well, come back for the big dinner and eat. The rest of the afternoon will be spent sipping some craft beer and/or bourbon and watching some football. If Im not too lazy I may see about setting out some traps for the coyotes that plague the landscape. Friday I hope all the women leave the house and don't do too much damage to the credit card. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. May your turkey taste fantastic and your waistline not increase by more than inch or two.

[agn54 0]

Normally we do the traditional thing, but one of my favorites was a few years ago, my wife and I went with her parents to the coast and my father-in-law and I went out fishing. The weather was perfect, low 70's, calm with a few clouds, and the big redfish were EVERYWHERE. We had a blast with them all day and then went to a local restaurant and had a seafood dinner.