Why the Work of Thanksgiving Is Worth It

Thinking Housewife ^

[Altura Ct.]

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE! it didn’t used to be so—I mean sure, as a child I loved to sing about the great, big turkey down on Grandpa’s farm, but mostly it was just a blip on the radar screen between Happy Halloween and Merry Christmas.

Growing up we’d make the trek to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Cache Valley, which felt like an eternal pilgrimage. . . .

[snip]

[T]here was a magnificent feast to behold! Homemade rolls and pies covered every surface, the finest china and polished silver graced white lace tablecloths, and the breezeway pantry was filled with chocolate turkeys, homemade penuche, and dollops of merengue and divinity. The day was spent in prayer, chatter and hours and hours of filling our bellies, letting it settle for a bit, then topping it off again with a swig of Pepsi and “just one more piece of caramel.” We drove home happy, grateful. . . .

The years passed, and before I knew it, over the river and through woods morphed into half a block down the street, as my own parents became host and hostess. Then, they passed the torch to us. And suddenly I became Queen of List Making. Which started me wondering—Is it all worth it? This exhaustive attention to detail for just one simple day?

Right about that time I read an article about a family celebrating Thanksgiving. And though I can’t remember the words that were written, the pictures painted more than a thousand words—people milling about in pajama pants and stained T-shirts, holding paper plates and plastic utensils, standing at the bar around aluminum pans filled with beans and wienies, then gathering around the television to watch football, before figuring out their game plan for hitting the stores at midnight.

The dumbing down of America.

Then I remembered what my Grandma Sybil used to say, “Poor people have poor ways.” Even as a child I knew this meant we become poor when our customs become poor. . . it has nothing to do with money.

And suddenly, there was clarity. The fresh flowers and pressed linens . . the napkin rings and silver pitchers. . . the washed windows and scrubbed baseboards and nine eggs and six cubes of butter in every batch of rolls. . . those weren’t just exhausting “details.” They were gifts.

Gifts from pilgrims who found themselves alive and well in a new home and declared a celebration was in order. Gifts from pioneer ancestors who swept their dirt floors one last time before they were driven from their homes. Gifts from grandmothers who brought out the red velvet covered sterling and taught a child how to polish and shine each piece and from parents who demonstrated through word and action never to treat sacred things lightly.

An abundance from God, Family and Country, wrapped up in culture and tied with tradition, which must never be replaced with pajama pants and paper plates.

Bless every one of their hearts, for they have filled my cup to overflowing. And as I lay me down to sleep, I give thanks that no matter how small my bank account, I will never, ever be poor.

[giotto]

Judge not, sayeth the Lord. Massive, elaborate feasts deplete bank accounts and add inches to the girth. If some families choose to eat beans and wienies so they can buy that big screen TV, who’s to say they’re not thankful for their bounty?

[Mr. Jeeves]

Then I remembered what my Grandma Sybil used to say, “Poor people have poor ways.”

A wonderful summation. Though no GOP candidate will ever dare say so. :)

[Romulus]

If some families choose to eat beans and wienies so they can buy that big screen TV

You are what you eat.

[bitt]

I like it!! Thanks!

[Bigg Red]

I think you miss the point of the entire piece. She is saying that it is important to put extra effort into preparing the Thanksgiving meal, that it is a special day that calls for dressing up a bit and not wearing pj pants.
None of this require a huge dent in one’s bank account

[Bigg Red]

require = requires

[Altura Ct.]

Indeed. She is also speaking to the traditions that help make us who we are. Conserving(imagine that?)them. That we are rich in spite of our financial condition(s). We are so much more as a people and nation...

[Bigg Red]

Yes, you are so right.

[giotto]

Speaking as someone who has marshalled an expensive array of ingredients into Thanksgiving dinner twenty years in a row, not to mention spending the previous week cleaning and preparing, I have to question whether it’s all worth it. I’m so exhausted that I can’t enjoy the guests. So, unless you have an army of helpers, or you can afford caterers, I say “Bah, humbug” to all of that hyped up folderol.

[Bigg Red]

Speaking as a woman who has produced a Thanksgiving meal after taking a few weeks to thoroughly clean my house from cellar to attic — my obligatory Christmas cleaning — for close to 40 years, I say it is well worth it. (I have been keeping house for 44 years, but Thanksgiving was at my mother’s home for the early years.)

My dear departed mother taught her daughters the importance of putting forth your best for your family and your faith.

Yes, I am tired after all of it is done, but I am peaceful and grateful. And thankful that God has allowed me to remain healthy enough to complete all of my work.