Being Thankful; Remembering Past Holidays of Thanks

    My dad has made it to his later mid-eighties, born in the Depression Era; he remarks that it is incredible that he has lived as long as he has. I am still clinging to my early fifties, and I find it remarkable that I can recall almost fifty thanksgiving holidays. We are blessed and grateful to make it this far.

    One of my earliest Thanksgiving memories was in Hanover, Massachusetts, the town not far from Cape Cod where my mother was raised. It was with her mother and father, both born in 1896. My mom's only brother Bill was there, with his lovely wife Ann. We were not too far from the first traditional Thanksgiving feast in Plymouth, Mass, on Boston Harbor, way back in 1620. Although I was reminded by my daughter in Florida today that there was a celebration feast convened with the natives by the first Europeans of Spanish persuasion back in the 1500s some two generations before the English Pilgrims of that historic colony.

    Most of my Thanksgivings as child took place in the house I grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. We would have multiple families over, usually from our church. We would have little pull-out kiddie tables for us youngsters. I recall one day in November in particular with quite a bit of snow on the ground. That might have been the mighty wintry Blizzard of '77-78 year. Luckily Star Wars had been out, and my little collection of figures kept me company over those long, cold and snowy months.

    My first Turkey Day away from home and family, if I am not mistaken, was as a full-time missionary in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. We read a lot of scriptures that day. I had been there for three weeks at that point. The following November I was in Santa Juana, Chile, enjoying home-made fries and bread from our doting mamita Eduvigis de Seguel. Perhaps we had no specific observance of the American holiday, an Abraham Lincoln construct during the U.S. Civil War, but we were eating well as the Chilean summer was getting warmer and warmer.

    The next Thanksgiving was at my dad's new house on the edge of Bloomington. My step-mother and her children and grandchildren came up from Bedford, a half hour south. I think that is where I could tell at least one tale of goodness from Chile.

    The next Novembers found me in Utah. I would eat, typically, with my sister's in-laws, a nice family that had lived in Bloomington for ten years. 

    1997 found me back in the Hoosier state, as did 1998. But in 1999 I had made it to the Golden State of California. Where was I for that Thanksgiving of 1999? Perhaps with the Frost family who lived close by? Hmm... not with David Zavala.

    No! I went up to Redwood City in the Bay Area to be with my sister and her growing family! Of course! It took me some reminiscing to recall how that went... It was with my childhood friend and my sister, his wife of 8 years, and their three little girls.

    By the fall of 2000 I was married and spending Thanksgivings with my wife and her extended family. Many holidays were spent driving to Glendora and watching games and playing in the backyard with my wife's aunts, uncles, and cousins.

    2001, while living in Los Angeles, might have been the same, as 2002 through 2004.

    2005 was a return to Chile, with our small family in Angol, buying cranberries in the Southern Hemisphere and sharing our gastronomic wares with some local families like Paula and her small daughter.

    2006 was in Ashburn, Virginia, but maybe we went to Indiana for the feasts there. Or, if not, we communed with local Saints in Ashburn, the Belmont Ridge Ward.

    2007? Monterrey, California, as 2008. We might have had visitors from my wife's family in the south come up to visit, or we ate and shared with some of the locals of that bay area.

    2009 was in Sterling, Virginia, but then, being close enough to grandparents in Indiana, perhaps we spent it there? Same for 2010 and 2011.

    2012 found me overseas in Afghanistan. Not sure if the wife and kids went to Indiana or stayed in Virginia. Well, they may have taken a young lady camping near Virginia Beach. A military base and cabins, perhaps. Or was that another time? Not the holidays, likely. 

    2013 through 2020 were variable. We took some vacations, like to the Navy accommodations in Virginia Beach. Maybe a couple trips to Indiana, before my mom passed in 2014.

    2021 I was in Kuwait at the Army base; that deserves its own separate story for another day.

    2022 was last year-- I recall what it was with my family, without our college daughter in Idaho, but with our senior college girl in Virginia.

    And now this one.

    Good enough, with visitors, happy enough.

    Blog enough.