Thanksgiving in Liberty

I'm flooded with thoughts of FOOD and PEOPLE on Back Street in Liberty when I reflect on Thanksgivings past.  My parents- Scud/Art and Esther- and their parents-Art and Mary, Bill and Fanny (our neighbors), Uncle Jerry and Aunt Joy Hoffman, cousins Jeff, Jenny and Joe; Ollie and Clarbel Web, Mike and I were the main group.  Becky Michael was also in many of the family photos (she became Rebecca, my wife, later).

I remember women working in the kitchen and men waiting in the living room or going hunting.  Dad and Jerry went hunting a few times for pheasant and rabbits.  Mike and I couldn't wait to get to hunt, too, after going along a couple times.  I remember when I hit the magic hunting age of 13 (family hunting age?), I got to hunt along with the other three, carrying a 410 gauge shotgun.  I blew a rabbit apart, missed a couple pheasants, and never hunted again. I guess the food and family togetherness had more appeal than cleaning game.

Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, bread, dressing (I wasn't much of a dressing fan as a kid), corn and gravy was the warm up food followed by another serving of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, then another nibble or two of turkey.  "How about some pie?" my Grandma J or C would ask.  A no-brainer- which pie? is the challenge.  "Well, OK, if you insist, I'll get one piece of pecan and one piece of pumpkin" (and cover them with whipped cream).  The candied apple slice with cinnamon and Philadelphia Cream Cheese added a nice touch (Mom called 2 days ago and said she was making that for me this TG- 11/24/2011- a nice surprise- can I wait until the proper time in the meal to eat one of those?  I don't know).

After watching Uncle Jerry strip the rest of the meat off the turkey to refrigerate until supper, we watched football- Detroit played every year, so the men seemed to get a bit of a nap (The Browns was our team- The Bengals weren't invented yet).  Napping was followed by- you guessed it- more pie to further clarify if it was really that good.  Yes, it was- maybe just a small piece to sit by the chair for the next nap.

Thankful for Family was always high on my list.  The photos of TG covering years of family gatherings are one of my treasures.  God (top of the thankful list) has blessed us.  Family and Liberty all in one place.

Thank you, God for these blessings, and the opportunity to serve others and spread the love.  Peace to all on this Thanksgiving Day.