On Thur
sday, most of you will find yourselves seated around a table with your families enjoying a wonderful meal of turkey, stuffing, gravy, vegetables, cranberry sauce, and proably a variety of pies--if you are like my family. When you are having this wonderful feast, don't forget one final ingredient that should be included, I believe, in all family holiday meals--conversation.
sday, most of you will find yourselves seated around a table with your families enjoying a wonderful meal of turkey, stuffing, gravy, vegetables, cranberry sauce, and proably a variety of pies--if you are like my family. When you are having this wonderful feast, don't forget one final ingredient that should be included, I believe, in all family holiday meals--conversation.Not the run of the mill, day to day, conversation that goes on at dinner time in most homes (although that has it merits too), but that special bonding-moment, generation-jumping conversation that remains in our memories for years, and reminds us of our loved ones. We will eventually forget each turkey, each piece of pie. But, we will remember the story Grandpa told about how he first met Grandma, or the youngest member's tale of helping Mom make dinner.
As you look around your Thanksgiving table, don't just see the platters full of delicious foods, see the chairs full of wonderful and interesting people--the people who make up your family. Use this special time to talk to them and to let them talk. Ask that maiden aunt about growing up in a small town and going to a one-room school house. Ask that second cousin about his stint in the Navy and the places he has been. You may hear tales you never expected to hear, and you may learn to look at these people you thought you knew with totally different eyes.
In other words, use the time you spend with your family at the dinner table this Thursday for conversation--the most important ingredient of any Thanksgiving meal.
(photo by darastar @ www.flickr.com)
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10 comments:
How right you are! I wish I had listened more when my grandparents were still alive. Better yet, I wish that I had asked questions of them. But, in the 1950's that wasn't considered "polite". Heck, nowadays, people ask (whether they should or not!) me just about anything. Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving my friend! :)
An excellent reminder for us all, Thank-you.
Beautiful message. :)
Leslie
http://www.LeslieSmithBooks.com
Great reminder!
So, let's see - I'll ignore my bratty sister-in-law completely and listen to everyone else.
Sounds like a plan! ;)
Have a great thanksgiving...
Best part of the dinner is the conversation. Not as easy with my hubby's family as it is with my own, but we still enjoy the day. Happy Thanksgiving.
AZ Mom of Many Hats
Oh I don't know if I can promise to do this. I don't mind listening to my kids talk. That doesn't bother me in the least. Sometimes I could listen all day to my son's stories.
See Thanksgiving has gone from being a gala multi-generational italian feast with the bird and trimmings to my family and my sister and her husband. Blech. I said the "h" word. Or should I say brother in law. Even more Blech, the "bil" word.
I think I'm going to have to either keep my self very busy barricaded in the kitchen...or I'm going to have to drink heavily.
Or I could do both.
Note to self, both sounds like a plan!
See, my bil is a real tool, and I don't mean the sharpest one in the shed. One year at my Grandmother's house he went on all afternoon about how he didn't know you could remove the seeds from a green pepper, plant them in the ground and get a whole new green pepper plant. Later on he could not be convinced that you could take cantaloupe seeds and plant them..... Oh, and in case you think he was joking, he wasn't, because this came up when they visited this summer when they checked out my garden.
So I guess I'm saying here...he's not very bright. And on top of that he repeats himself...endlessly. Oh and lets not forget that he moans and grunts when he eats. LIKE A CAVE MAN! Not just once, throughout the meal. "Mmmmmm this is really good..." Five minutes later, repeat. Five minutes later, repeat. Five minutes later, repeat.
I think you get the idea.
Maybe I could move to Canada by Thursday. That way, I would have already missed Thanksgiving. LOL!
For all of you with strange, annoying relatives--believe me, I have had my share. Some of them are no longer with us. Believe it or not, in retrospect their quirks can even bring a smile to my face.
I'm looking to that most of all. I love the close time spent together but also the many conversations we have. It's a wonderful time.
Thanksgiving has always been my second favorite holiday (after Halloween) mostly because of the bonding and conversation among the family. With the exception of the year my grandmother passed (in late October) Thanksgiving was the one day we could count on when there would just be laughs and no fighting or drama. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my sister, husband and kids. Not looking forward to the cooking, though. :-)
We're going to my in-laws' tomorrow. I'm sure we'll talk about politics, the economy, my daughter, but probably nothing personal. It just always is this way.
Davida
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