As I sit here the night before Thanksgiving, I am reminded of the holidays of my childhood. It was a tradition for my sister and I to spend the night before with our grandparents. Every year our Mammaw would be preparing everything imaginable for our big family dinner the next day. The one thing that we looked forward to the most, was chopping up the cornbread for her homemade stuffing. Using biscuit cutters, we smashed, mushed, and completely crumbled the yellow cornbread up. It was fun to see how much of the crumbs could accumulate within our "chopper" and then let the big pile (imaging packed brown sugar) fall out into the rest of the crumbs and start all over again.
 |
| My Mammaw in the 1960s with a niece. |
We would go to bed around 11:00pm and this was extremely late for our grandparents! Growing up on farms, they went to bed early and woke up before the sun rose. I was always a night owl, so this humored me. In the morning we would awaken to the smell of bacon cooking. We would rush into the kitchen for our breakfast & then on to the living room to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Our parents would get there about then & our Uncle Terry would join us as well.
Soon it was time to eat, and the large dinner table was filled with southern style foods that I still cannot get just right to this day! After we had filled our bellies, football would be turned on, while my sister & I would beg to watch the cheerleading competitions that were usually on at the same time.
 |
| My Pappaw with my oldest, Avery, in 2006. |
It's been 9 years since my Mammaw passed away and 3 since we lost Pappaw. Yet, I can still hear their laughter and voices that made us all feel so welcomed and loved every day...not just during the holiday season. I am thankful that I did have the chance to cherish each day with them. They taught us to love, to live, and to enjoy the things that truly matter in life...family.
I hope that I can pass this on to my daughters, and one day my grandchildren as well. It's never to early or too late to start your own family traditions and to make memories that will last not only your lifetime, but your loved ones' as well.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
