Happy Thanksgiving

My son, the one with grammar skills, thought we should celebrate Thanksgiving by making a turducken. Since I had no idea what this could possibly be, I said I probably wasn't making a turducken. After being informed what a turducken was, I was able with a clear conscious to confirm I wasn't making a turducken (a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken). My reasoning: it sounded gross, because the chicken would have to be very small, and finally because he doesn't even like poultry much. But the most important reason: it's not part of our tradition!

We are funny about tradition, aren't we? We should have traditions, they are essential to creating family unity and heritage. If we always do something that makes us uniquely Smiths or Browns that's a good healthy thing. But sometimes when the tradition becomes the priority instead of the family we discover we are in a "mell of a hess" as my grandmother used to write in her letters. We start goofy things like cutting the end off the roast just because our grandmother did. Or making food no one likes because once upon a time in the family line someone loved lima beans. After all, who wants to be known as the family that always has lima beans for holiday meals.

Our family has been small in Kentucky. We have had no extended family here so each year we have adopted others in similar straights. We have had an interesting array of people through the years, always interesting and always good for family chuckles later. One year it was the lady who couldn't figure out how it was all of us sat down to Thanksgiving dinner without our shoes on. From that year on, we had a family member on 'Helen detail' to yell "shoes" when she pulled into the driveway. Each of us grieved when she died as that tradition was no longer necessary. Not only had she made us a unit, she added personality to the meal. Some dear friends have celebrated the holidays with us, adding both love and lots of laughter to meals. The 'turkey pop' was born on one of those evening, an explanation is no doubt unnecessary.

I suppose as our family grows it will be less necessary to adopt others but I hope this is a tradition we keep. It is a good thing to open our doors and welcome the family we are united with by geography, by interest, by church, by love. I would like our family to be family who practiced hospitality well. I would also like it to the be place where the food is as good as the company, but since I think one shouldn't expect too many miracles, we will stick with good company.


A very Happy Thanksgiving to all. Perhaps you might start a new tradition this year. Perhaps you might like consider which of your traditions you would like to be synonymous with your name. And if you don't have one, perhaps this is the time to begin. I wouldn't recommend the turducken, but perhaps I am missing the boat on that one. Whatever it may be, I pray that God might reach each of us and bless each one and make each of us a blessing to one another.