In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. The Puritans, having come to America in order to worship in a fully reformed church apart from the Church of England, had survived many perils in their newly founded home. Being a religious group, they gathered to give thanks for their blessings from God. Today, we continue to gather around a feast of food and family and friends to give thanks for our bounty.
My son-in-law once commented to me that one the things that he cherished about the Gray family, was that we used just about anything as an excuse to get the family together under one roof; birthdays, Easter, Fourth of July, Mother and Fathers Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not all of us could always make it to these family gatherings for a variety of reasons, however since we tried to get together so often, most of us did manage to get to at least a couple of the gatherings during the year. Thanksgiving has always been one of the big ones.
Usually our Thanksgiving was at Mom and Dad's, later as the family grew and aged, we congregated at whoever was up to hosting it. We also opened our homes our to in-laws, and soldiers from the army base where our own soldiers where stationed, who could not go home for the holiday. From this nucleus of friends and family many memories have been built and savored.
Ladies will gather in the kitchen, laboring over the stove with love (often with a few glasses of wine in hand), each adding their own unique speciality to the feast. Here they will chatter about their children, their spouses, the grandchildren. The kitchen will heat up and soon they will be opening windows, even in 30 degree weather. Little kids rush in and out of the kitchen sneaking tidbits of food before the big meal, with women chasing them out from under their feet. Pre-meal snacks are laid out to keep the masses satiated and out of the kitchen; cheese balls, summer sausage and crackers and vegetable trays.
The men gather around the television and a football game or some other manly show. They discuss manly things and I am sure that does not include their spouses or children. A few of them will sometimes wander into the kitchen and help out with the cooking but usually just trying to get a handle on when the dinner will be laid out for devouring.
After hours of feast preparation, the meal is laid out in buffet style and we gather around for words of prayer and fellowship. We give thanks for our togetherness, to those who could not attend and in remembrance of those that are no longer with us. I like to think that we are much like those first Pilgrims that gave thanks around a feast. We are part of the backbone that made this country. We have labored, harvested and endured and now we come together to share in our thankfulness to God and each other for our strength and bounty. We have much to be thankful for.
This Thanksgiving I am personally thankful for the memories I have of my family. Of Josph Lister, our fallen soldier lost in Iraq November 20, 2003, who left us with a most precious grandson, Micah. Of Janice Furman, my mother-in-law, who left us October 29, 2013, and gave me her son and made me laugh and smile. Of my father, Armond Gray, who left us February 23, 2013, and gave me his good looks and his stubbornness to persevere. I am an extension of these people and many others, each having given me a piece of themselves so that I am a better person.
In tribute to the families that hold all of us up and the memories we all cherish, I share this slideshow of my family memories. Family Memories
