Thanksgivings past & present

Have you noticed that nothing stays the same for long? I sure have!

When we were kids, we assumed that what were experiencing was the way things would be “forever.” But it didn’t take long to dispel that misconception. For example, when I was a little kid we used to spend Thanksgiving with my paternal grandparents and I guess I kind of figured all kids did that, too, but it didn’t take long to realize that just wasn’t the way things were!

Then, as a young college student a thousand miles away from home, we tried to get invited to the home of a good cook at the church we attended, and if my memory serves me correctly we batted 1000% all four years and they were some real feasts!

As newlyweds in Detroit we spent Thanksgiving with my in-laws until we moved to Perry, GA in 1971 when we shared Thanksgiving and Christmas with my brother and his family in Birmingham.

Then there was a season in our corporate life when we moved 9 times in 10 years and frankly, I hardly remember what we did for Thanksgiving during those times… they were such a blur!

And our Thanksgiving celebrations continue to evolve with time and circumstances but there was one year while we were at the farm that I have to share with you.

My daughter, who at the time was living in Greenwich, CT, the hometown of Martha Stewart, told me how much she paid for a “Heritage Turkey” for their Thanksgiving dinner. Bess and I decided to buy some baby heritage turkey chicks and raise them alongside our chickens on the farm, harvest a couple for ourselves and sell the others to pay for our celebration. 

So we bought ten baby turkeys that were delivered to us in the mail; believe it or not the USPS has special provisions for delivering livestock of that nature! 

Friends had advised us that if 6 out of 10 survived you’d be doing pretty good. So when all ten of ours survived and grew to be full sized turkeys we thought we were almost seasoned veterans. My routine was to feed them some supplemental corn, etc. in the morning along with the chickens, and let them free range the rest of the day until they actually came home to roost every night in the pecan tree over the chicken coop.

This routine went on for several months while we were fattening them for the big day. As Thanksgiving approached I arranged for my “hunter son,” David, to come help me harvest a couple turkeys the day before Thanksgiving. 

Before I tell you what happened, let me say that this was not just an ordinary Thanksgiving. We were in the midst of remodeling the old kitchen at the farm and so we planned to have dinner out on the deck given that the weather forecast was very favorable, and like most years, we invited a number of non-family guests; probably 15 or more people.

But when David came to help me harvest the turkeys, early on Thanksgiving Day “Eve”, as I was feeding them per my routine, they were nowhere to be found! And so, like any other host in our shoes I went out and bought a “Kroger Turkey.” The next day, it filled the house with the splendid aroma of roast turkey as it always does, but here’s “The Rest of the Story”.

As we all gathered on the deck and sat down to overflowing plates of all things turkey, our missing Heritage Turkeys from the day before gobbled and waddled right next to the deck in the side yard where it was impossible to miss them. And this is a 100% true story, one we’ll  never forget and will probably be our most memorable for the rest of our lives!  

Of course, Thanksgiving is more than about what kind of turkey is on your table. It’s about celebrating God’s bountiful goodness for this and past years no matter what the circumstances were or are. 

For us seniors, we know by experience, that our circumstances will change from year to year, sometimes happily, as in a new daughter-in-law or grandchild being at the table. Or sometimes sadly, as in a lifelong spouse not being at the table for the first time ever. In that case, the challenge is to be thankful for the years that you did have to celebrate together!

No matter your circumstances this year, I hope you will be very thankful for all of God’s blessings!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors, see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at  https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA