Thanksgiving (we suppose along with Christmas) is a holiday that is perhaps uniquely enriched with a sense of the past. This year’s turkey has to get compared to last year’s, and some family member is sure to reminisce to a child at the table about what Thanksgiving was like when HE was little. It almost always works out and turns into the holiday we are hoping for, but not without a few bumps along the way. Tell us about your most memorable Thanksgiving–no holds barred!
For me, I think the Thanksgiving I remember most is actually my first away from home, freshman year in college, when I took the old Pan Am shuttle down to New York to encounter it for the first time. For a small-town Southerner, New York was an eye-opener, not least because an elderly woman in a mink passed me on the sidewalk and told me to get out the way in language I didn’t think anybody used, much less little old ladies!
What was your most memorable Thanksgiving?
My most memorable Thanksgiving was in 1984. I was touring (as a musician) US Military bases in the Pacific with a Country artist from Nashville. On that Thanksgiving Day, we were performing in Korea at the US airbase at Taegu, South Korea. It was the farthest I’d ever ventured away from home during any holiday. I remember walking into the base mess hall with all of the servicemen and women. When I got closer to the man with the apron who was dishing out the turkey with all the trimmings, I heard a few whispers from the men and women around me. It was the base Commanding Officer! I never felt more like an American than at that moment. Nor more thankful.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was when I cooked my 1st turkey about 14 years ago. My mother-in-law said to me what is in this turkey and I said what do you mean…and she said there was a bag of stuff in the turkey and that I didn’t take out the neck and all that junk. then I said OH…. and I never heard the end of that story til the unfortunate day that she passed away. And on occasion my husband still makes fun of me and we LOL!!!!!!! If we go to someone’s house for Thanksgiving he will tell them the story so this story will never die. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!!
By tradition we always went to the Thanksgiving parade with our kids, came home and then went to my mother-in-laws for dinner. One year we came home from the parade and my wife said she could almost smell that turkey. I said “I CAN smell that turkey”. We then looked in the oven and there was a big, beautiful turkey. But where did it come from? About a 1/2 hour later, our dear neighbor Lynn knocked on the door and said “How’s my turkey doing?” Her oven had broken, she’d gone to my mother-in-laws to get our spare key and had put HER turkey in OUR oven. Lynn passed away from cancer several years later. But every Thanksgiving, we tell the story of the mystery turkey and think fondly of her.
The most memorable Thanksgiving was in 2007 when we celebrated Thanksgiving and my Grandfathers 95th birthday. It was a the last time we celebrated together as a family and left us all with great memories.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was my first one in this country. I didn’t really quite understand the obsession with Turkey. I thought they were so cute that I refused to eat them. Since the stuffing had turkey gibblets I didn’t eat that either. By extension, no gravy and no mashed potatoes (as some of the turkey fat had been used to thicken them). I hated yams so that was out. All I had left was cranberry sauce which I ate exclusive and was thankful for the one thing I could eat, sugar.
The year was 1978 and after 7 years of marriage, “we” were finally pregnant. We had kept the news from our very best friends because they had been married a year longer than we. We were traveling to Kentucky to spend Thanksgiving with them, a tradition that continued for 20 years. They picked us up at the airport and we went to The Waffle House for some late night munchies. Sitting in the booth, I broached the subject that we had some news to share. I looked at my friend and she was smiling. She said they had some news, also. Our children were born 2 months apart! It was a Thanksgiving we would never ever forget. We were so thankful for our friendship and the advent of our children.
EVERYONE got stuck somewhere – by plane, by car or by train. When we finally all got together, all we ate was dessert and saved the dinner for the next day’s lunch!
most memorable thanksgiving is this one – my spouse and brother-in-law went on a fishing charter in the bay so we’ve postponed our Thanksgiving celebration until Friday. I’m thankful both are healthy enough to enjoy a day on the water and appreciative that I have all day Thursday to prepare for our special Thanksgiving celebration on Friday! Bountiful blessings to all!
Thanksgiving has always meant “family” to me. I will always be thankful for my family. On those occasions when I could not be with them, like when I was in the military, I could still stay in touch my mail and phone. E-mail and video chatting makes it that much easier today.
My first year in the military, I was feeling very homesick, so I went out and got the biggest turkey I could find. It was over 20 pounds. This was the first tim I had ever cooked one on my own. I used a cooking bag, following the instructions carefully. The bird came out perfect – actually a bit too perfect – falling apart/off the bone perfect ! I peeled the bag away and went to lift it onto a platter. My mistake was to do this with two large forks stuck into either side of the breast. The whole bottom end of the turkey – both legs and the lower spine fell into the pan full of turkey grease/juice. The resulting splash covered most of my stovetop and kitchen counter. It took me a long time to clean up. The turkey was perfect and fed me almost until Christmas, when I bought another one, along with a simple sling made of cotton butcher twine to lift it out properly.
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The last time tyhe complete family was together at the same meal.
This year is my most memorable, becaue it is the first Thanksgiving with our first grandchild. We visited our son’s family at their small apartment in Seattle, and because we couldn’t be there on Thanksgiving Day, we celebrated last Monday. We pulled together all the fixings, including home made ice cream. Our new little familiy member watched happily from his bouncy chair. We are truly blessed!
My most memorable Thanksgiving was in 2002 when I was working on contract for a company in Racine, Milwaukee. I was due to fly back to Raleigh, NC the evening before Thanksgiving, and when I arrived at the airport, they told me my plane had a mechanical problem (Sounds familiar?). To cut a long story short, I never got home for Thanksgiving, and the airline put me up in a hotel. But on a positive note, the staff in the hotel bar were very sympathetic!
Burnt pan dow di and delicious roast turkey. Watching old movies and spent the whole day boxing up photos for ScanCafe. Can’t wait for my scanning to be done.
We celebrated Thanksgiving in South Africa yesterday, a nice change in the sunshine. Unfortunately when we went to buy the turkey on Wednesday we discovered you can only buy frozen ones at this time of year! With not enough time to defrost and prepare the bird we celebrated with two large chickens instead!
This year is my most memorable Thanksgiving. My daughter has gone to college two thousand miles away. As it costs too much to come home for just a few days, she hasn’t been home for Thanksgiving in several years. She likes to talk and giggle, and Thanksgiving is just not the same without her. She is a great joy to be around. However, this year we both have a laptop and she suggested that we do the web-cam live chat while we eat dinner. So, at dinner time, we turned on the laptop and “voila”, we saw each other. We have so much fun while we showcase each other what is on the table. We talked and laughed together. I miss her terribly, but now that I know how to use the web-cam feature, I can see her more often. This is certainly the most memorable Thanksgiving for both of us.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was two years ago in Three Rivers, CA. I couldn’t sleep the night before because there were so many dogs barking all night long. Thanksgiving morning I woke to a local fireman telling me a wounded dear was on my property and they wanted to come though and put him down. The dear had the worst night of his life after being hit by a car and harassed by loose dogs. Luckily he found peace when they put him down.
We lived in Hawaii in the 90s with two small kids and all our extended family was far away on the East coast. There were other families like ours so we joined together on Thanksgiving to have a holiday “family” feast. It helped us not miss our own parents, grandparents and siblings as much plus it still gave us a special way to spend our holiday.
When I was 13 years old we spent the day before Thanksgiving helping my sister finish moving from a scary appartment in a bad part of her college town to a nice little apartment in a good part of town. I was the baby sitter. I was so bored. The “babies” were two rats, two finches, two parakeets, and a black guinea pig named Sunshine.
We stopped for lunch and were suprised when my sister revealed that she had already ordered Papa Johns. I had never had it before and it was a huge deal for me. There is pizza beyond Pizza Hut? lol! After we ate we were suprised yet again when my sister’s boyfriend anounced that the night before he had proposed and my sister had accepted. It was quiet a busy Thanksgiving but oh what a good one. My sister and her husband have been married for 16 years now and have two beautiful kids. I am very thankful for all of them.
My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is the whole family watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles every year after we eat dinner. We all stuff ourselves on Turkey so everyone ends up falling asleep…. I don’t think we have ever got through the whole movie. But every year we try!
I love being able to give my Scans a great look.
After hurricane Katrina I was the only one in the family that had pictures left. Scan safe has saved me time and lots of money. Thanks
Scancafe works for us.
Every Thanksgiving is special. Good times with good friends
Thanksgiving 2009, which was yesterday, was the most memorable because our 6 children and 18 grandchil;dren were all here. We had 38 family members together, including one greatgranmother.
Most memorable Thanksgiving? My first year in college, 1967. I didn’t expect to get home to New York from Ohio, but unexpectedly got a last minute ride with a friend. Surprised my mother and two minutes later was on the way to my girl friend’s house. She has now been my wife for forty years.
My most memorable thanksgiving was this year because all of our family was together.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was the first year my wife and I hosted Thanksgiving. We had 10-15 people there and I finally realized how much work it was. Since then…I’ve learned how to take it easy when hosting, but that day…well, let’s just say I was pretty frustrated and excited!!
One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is watching Home Alone in the evening after a great turkey dinner! Also, it’s the first day we turn on Christmas lights.
One of my most memorable Thanksgiving memories was a few years back when our two families the immediate and the in-laws, shared our first Thanksgiving dinner. It was a mix of traditional American food and Hispanic food mixed together to make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a memory I’m soon not forget.
My first thanksgiving away from home was while serving in Korea with the USAF. We had the day off and our only dining option was the chow hall which had the probable unfair reputation of serving foods of questionable quality. So instead of eating Turkey for Thanksgiving we decided to eat at one of the local Bulgogi Houses and see if we could find a live turkey somewhere in country. Four hours and Three bus transfers later we finally found a pair of Turkey s at a very empty Seoul Zoo. We sat there watching the pair for at least half an hour and although we explored the entire zoo, to this day I can’t think of another significant exhibit.
Never name your turkey. One Thanksgiving, we jokingly named our frozen turkey “Stanley.” When the time came for my Dad to carve it, I broke into tears and cried “We can’t eat Stanley!” We ate mashed potatoes and green bean casserole as our main course that Thanksgiving.
My most memorable Thanksgiving. The Company I worked for presented each employee with a Thanksgiving Turkey every year. Knowing this we invited twelve members of our families to Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey weighed 18 pounds and in those days we had a rather small refrigerator. The weather was cold so we left the turkey (by now in the process of defrosting) outside our kitchen door. Imagin our dismay the next morning when we found that the the Turkey had one side half consumed by a wild animal. What to do. We roasted the turkey. Displayed the good side. Did not tell our guests about the animal attack. And all enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast. Years later we recounted the story to our families and we still get a laugh out of it.
My most memorable is 1986. The whole family were there.My husbands sisters,Mother,our 4 children plus those with spouses and children. It was the last one we were all together. My son was shipping out to Germany and I suppose I knew nothing would be the same. Unfortunately I burst into tears and upset everyone. The next year my husbands sisters had moved and his Mother died.
I set up the tripod and take a picture every Thanksgiving … so it’s not a particular Thanksgiving that’s memorable, but being able to look back over several decades and watch the family change and grow. Thanks to ScanCafe for helping bring back those old slides so I can see even further back into Thanksgivings past!
1974…..Irving Texas…..Dallas Cowboys against the Washington Redskins on thanksgiving day. My dad took me and my best friend to see the Cowboys come back and win a thriller!
Back in the late 70’s we drove from Dallas, TX to Detroit, MI for Thanksgiving in a snow/ice storm for about 1,000 miles of the trip. The storm stayed with us the whole way! It took 3 days to recover from that drive, i.e., bloodshot eyes!
THANKS discount code
My most memorable Thanksgiving was the only one in my life that I spent alone. I was 27, living in Ohio, and had planned to go to my parent’s home in Florida…but a massive snowstorm stranded me. I was essentially stuck inside my house for the long holiday weekend. Instead of bemoaning my fate I turned it into great fun: did a “paint-by-numbers” and caught up on all my reading. I toasted my family on Thanksgiving over the phone as they were having a feast and I was having sandwiches. But it is still memorable to me.
Our most memorable Thanksgiving was 1986. It was the last time everyone in the whole family was together. Subsequent ones ,people were serving overseas or had passed on or moved very far away.
MY BEST THANKSGIVING WAS THIS YEAR 2009 AS MY TOTAL FAMILY ATTENDED THE DINNER. WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE 3 SONS, 3 DAUGHTER IN LAWS, AND 7 GRANDCHILDREN AGED 10 TO 22. 3 ARE IN COLLEGE MARYLAND, TULANE AND UNIV OF PENNA. WE ALL WERE TOGETHER FOR DINNER AND IT WAS JUST WONDERFUL. ARLENE AND LOU
One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories was in college. My boyfriend (now husband of 19 years) and I had planned to host both our families to a Thanksgiving feast. We had never cooked a turkey or tried to conquer that large of a meal. In early September we hosted a faux Thanksiving with all our college friends to try it out. It was a massive pot luck meal and our turkey came out great. The day of good food and friends brings a smile back to my face.
One of the last times I had Thanksgiving with my family was several years ago, before I moved out of the house at 17. My grandma always hosts at her house and everyone is responsible for part of the meal. My aunt was asked to bring a few things, including dinner rolls. Shortly before the meal was supposed to start, we couldn’t find the dinner rolls and my aunt (who is a bit absentminded sometimes) realized she forgot. What ensued was grandma screaming at her in Spanish about how she had RUINED Thanksgiving. Needless to say, my aunt doesn’t volunteer to bring the dinner rolls anymore and an overly cautious family member or two usually brings extra just in case the person in charge of bringing them forgets…better have extra than face the wrath of grandma!
Been sick since Tuesday and couldn’t join the family for dinner so I spent the days going through old pictures and reliving family gatherings of the past. it was great. A knock on the door at 5.30 and there was Thanksgiving dinner (leftovers) being delivered by my uncle. Thanksgiving is always great!
Although Thanksgivings are usually family and turkey, my most memorable was spent in Thailand, eating a nice bowl of green curry with a good old friend, along a big beach, on a tiny island, not far from Cambodia. The thought of cooking for hours and stuffing myself, uncomfortably avoiding talking about politics or religion with my family seemed impossibly far away. Nice.
in 1953, we’d been married for a couple of years and had a wonderful apartment in an old adobe house in Albuquerque. We invited his sister and our good friend and neighbor and my mother, who had just moved to Albuquerque, and others. We had the table set (my mother fussing constantly about how to set it) and my husband and our friend came in for dinner, dressed in jeans and shirts and engineer’s boots. Mother objected, and the two of them disappeared for some time, then reappeared wearing tuxedos, Charley’s grandfather’s and his father’s, both finely tailored, but very old. And the engineer’s boots.
Every Thanksgiving is memorable to me when I get to spend it with my family down in Texas. My mother is in her fourth remission with ovarian cancer, so every holiday we have with her is meaningful to me!
My most memorable Thanksgiving was two years ago. We moved into our house during that week. Thankfully my in-laws provided dinner. We had plenty of leftovers to eat while we unpacked.
Every year is a favorite! They all have special appeal!
This year, my sister is engaged and VERY happy!
Quite Thankful and blessed indeed!
Taking photos at every opportunity!
Brett
We never spent a Christmas or a Thanksgiving with my mother’s family. They lived about 2 1/2 hrs away and my Dad often worked on the holidays. We finally made plans to spend Thanksgiving with Mom’s family and when we got up the roads were glare ice. Traveling was impossible. My sisters and I were so disappointed. I was in tears. We never did spend a holiday with my Mom’s side and I think back now, almost 60 years and many happy holidays later and am sad still at what we missed but more so for Mom and her family. While we were always very close, their disappointment was never mentioned.
Most memorable T’giving was 2005 after I had just been able to convince my girlfried/fiance to come to America from Poland to marry me. I had just moved from the East coast to West coast so this was a wonderful time for me. I also reconnected with a second cousin who I hadn’t seen in years and had the dinner at their house. Very memorable and great pictures too. I’ve sent Scancafe pictures from work-taken through a microscope and their work is great.
The day before Thanksgiving a few years ago, I noticed a small bird sitting outside of our front door. When I approached it, the bird didn’t fly away, so it must have hit the window, as birds do. It was still breathing and sitting upright, so I assumed it was just stunned from the impact and would fly away later. I took advantage of this opportunity to take a quick picture of the bird before leaving it alone to recover.
Hours later, the bird was still sitting outside of our door, and I was afraid that it wouldn’t make it, so I deleted the picture, because I didn’t want a picture of a dead bird.
When I went out to check on it one final time, to see if its wings were injured, the bird looked at me, hopped a few times, and then flew away.
The most memorable Thanksgiving is when I visited my friends family in Colorado. After the Thanksgiving dinner a few of us took a walk. We found a deer laying down next to a fence. She was not breathing but her body was still warm. We decided to carry her back to the house to eat. Put her on a 4WD then carry her into the outhouse. We skinned then nicely prepaired. It was a real gift from the god in a very memorable Thanksgiving day.
When I was young, my family celebrated Thanksgiving with my Dad’s relatives and Christmas and Easter with my Mom’s side of the family. One of our Thanksgiving traditions was to have a Miss America pageant each year. When I was about 8 or 9, I (the youngest female cousin on that side of the family) finally won the Miss America competition! I got to parade around with my baby brothers blanket as my cape! It was the last Thanksgiving we ever had the pageant and, at 48, I still reign as the family diva!
My favorite thanksgiving tradition was going to the house of my oldest friend’s grandparents house for my several first thanksgivings. It was a gigantic house with an enormous family, and a lot of phenomenal food. This is I think the closest I have ever gotten to the traditional image of a thanksgiving dinner, because all of my family lives in Brazil.
I was once in the business scanning, editing and printing vintage pictures. These guys are better (and cheaper) than I was on a good day!
My most memorable Thanksgiving was the year we invited all our friends to dinner at our house. Our oldest son was in diapers (age 2) and when our friends started arriving, our son jumped right into our friend Wayne’s arms, surprising the 25-year old bachelor and his new girlfriend! He later married the girlfriend, and we were all thrilled our son, Max, aka “wild thing in diapers” didn’t scare her off!
There are so many memorable Thanksgiving holidays, it is hard to pick. The craziest, by far, was time when the turkey was not cooked as it should have been. No problem, cook it longer. Then the electricity went out. No problem, cook it on the grill. It took well over an hour. Just as it was done, the gas in the grill ran out. No matter, the thermometer read “done”. Great.
As we took the bird out and rejoiced. Our usually obiedient dog when for the turkey. He had meat..we had veggies.
In 1995 a few years out of college, I took an expat job in the former Soviet Union because the pay was almost double my paltry wages in the US. Since I had the least seniority on my team, I didn’t get the “choice” assignment to Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kiev, and ended up by myself in Kyrgyzstan. Thanksgiving came around and I was incredibly homesick. I improvised my dinner with some greasy chicken from a local takeout (turkey in Southeast Asia, are you kidding??), cherry preserves (cranberries hadn’t made it there either), some rolls (which I could swear were tinged with mold on the inside but with enough heat and butter, edible) and a bottle of red wine from Moldova (which was about 10 times better than expected.) As I sat that evening trying to keep it all down, I got a call from my parents back in Virginia and I cried like a baby to my mother! I didn’t last a year before I quit and came home, and I haven’t missed a Thanksgiving with my parents since then.
Thanksgiving holidays are special. More recently we have been spending them at home due to my mother-in-law’s health. In years past we have had some really different ones spent at the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona Beach, Florida. This takes place during the day at the International Speedway and is huge. You can also watch cars cruising the beach boulevard at night. I can’t believe so many people enjoy spending their Thanksgiving poring over engines, car parts and discussing paint jobs and waling for miles! It’s pretty neat though!
My most memorable Thanksgiving was when my Mom and I were in the kitchen bringing our the food. She dropped the green bean casrole on the floor. she scrapped it up and put it back in the dish and took it to the table. I said nothing and she said nothing. It was our little secret.
I remember one year, it had been unseasonably mild Fall in New York. Cousins played football on the green lawn and a go-kart was tinkered with to no avail. A sharp chill spread across the yard when the sun gave up it’s last attempts to linger.By the time we had sat down to dinner, it had begun to snow, adding to the excitement of the occasion. By the time dessert was cleared, there was two inches of snow and the thrill turned to cardboard coasting on the hill. That’s the way it was on that year when Winter came all at once on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving is a day for medtation on giving THANKS
to the MOTHER EARTH,to evrything and everybody
since we all ONE>
A very memorable Thanksgiving happened in 2008 when our family traveled out to Galena, IL. We had family from Naperville, IL as well as Battle Creek, MI. When it came time to have dinner, unknown to us, our daughter and her husband had ordered turkey dinner brought in and it was delivered by people dressed as the colonists and a turkey! Our son in law made cream cheese cake and the cousins brought christmas cookies. We sat around the table reminiscing about Thanksgivings past and appreciating family and funny stories..
Our best Thanksgiving was this year because we had both our moms, 85 and 86 years old respectively, with us. Who knows if we’ll have them again for Thanksgiving together. We also had friends from Chile and France, along with a 2-week old newborn. 16 people in all. A great day!
My most memorable was when the oven broke and we had to slice the raw turkey and then grill it……YUCK
This year was one of my most memorable. After back-to-back 10-hour plane rides, I arrived home just in time for Thanksgiving Dinner with my family. While the flights were painful, it was a joy to see the family after being so far away for so long.
The last traditional family Thanksgiving I had with my New York relatives was in 1969. We started with milk, tea, Italian bread and vodkas. Moving to the table, we had fruit cocktail, bread, salad and cold cuts. Next came the turkey, sweet potatoes, turnips, cranberries, corn and spinach. Then ravioli with pork, meatballs and cheese. We finished with tea, coffee, beer, soda, pudding, jello, and two kinds of cake. We left New York City at 10:30 p.m. to return to the Hamptons. Parkway traffic was so bad and icy, we went into a spin three times. My grandmother, who was driving, took a hit off her flask after every spin. We finally got into Hampton Bays at 2:15 a.m., two hours later than usual.
The first one my wife and I did together.
Most memorable? likely a sunny thanksgiving in southern California, with my siser and I both home from college in northern climates. The air was warm and soft, and the avocado trees had fruit and the poinsetta trees were ready for Christmas. Short sleeves and turkey. what’s not to like?
Being on this side of dirt works for me …. give THANKS to the big guy in the sky for giving me sooooo much to be thankful for on Turkey Day…Family, friends & GOOOOD memories!!!..BEST combo I know!!
My most memorable thanksgiving was four years ago. My youngest son and wife came from Katmandoo Tibit after going to Mt Everest. My daughter and husband came from San Francisco. My oldest son and wife came from New Zealand. They surprised me completely by walking into the dining room carrying the turkey dinner and the grandchildren. Thanks giving really is for family.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was about 23 years ago. My dad had just remarried. I was 12 and my brother was 9. We were supposed to go eat at my new step mom’s parents house for our first “family” gathering. As we drove up to their house and stepped out of the car we heard yelling. I’m not talking about loud talking…. it was out and out screaming. We walked in and my step mom and her family were fighting like cats and dogs! My brother and I had never been around anything like this before. How could this be? Thanksgiving day and people were screaming and crying all over the place. Apparently my step mom and her brother had a disagreement and the remaining family members took sides. I have no idea what the agurment was over to this day. No one would even speak to us. To make matters worse, I walked in the kitchen to find my dad only to see my step mom’s mother throwing Thanksgiving dinner out the back door literally! Pot by pot she dumped it right out the back door. Happy Thanksgiving to us! Sad to say, he is still married to the crackpot!
We held dinner so we could watch the Bears and Lions in OT. Unfortunately, the Lions lost when the kickoff was returned for a td in the first play of OT!
This years Thanksgiving was memorable becseu my son and his girlfriend who normally just show up for the lunch maybe bring a pie then eat and leave actually made the turkey. Thye got up at 4 AM discovered the turkey wasn’t completely thawed and went from there. But it turned out to be cooked perfectly with a nice flavor so was a great surpise.
Thanksgiving is always great, it’s hard to choose a favorite!
Thanksgiving is always my favorite holiday – family, friends, food, wine and football are always on the menu. One of the most memorable was the first time I took my girlfriend to my family home in Michigan. We flew into a Detroit snowstorm and fought our way home through the snow and traffic. The trip should take 45 min and we were on the road almost 6 hours, missing Wednesday night dinner.
Still, we finally arrived and Thanksgiving was all you could ask a family meal to be. It must have turned out OK, because by the next Thanksgiving my girlfriend was my wife. We enjoy all our Thanksgivings together all the more because we remember that first one!
Most memorable… had to be when I was about 12 or 13. My entire family got food poisoning and spent late afternoon and evening vomiting. Mine was over just before the 6 hour drive home, but my sister sat next to me in the back of the car — dad smoking with the windows cracked just a bit — sister puking into a plastic ice cream pail, all the way home. I’ll never forget that Thanksgiving.
We’ve had many thanksgiving dinners over the years, from childhood with family, to dinners my wife and I shared alone, until now with our three children, their spouses, and our seven (soon to be eight) grandchildren, when we are lucky enough to have everyone with us. It is indeed a special day, and one to celebrate wit a great meal and by making photographs and remembering times past with old photos.
please change “celebrate wit” to “celebrate with” … thank you
Upon removal from the oven, done to crispy brown perfection, the pan slipped from my hands and the turkey bounced across the kitchen floor, swimming in all the gravy juices from the pan. We ate it anyway, with gravy from a jar. Always keep a back up jar of gravy!!!
Last year a dear friend offered our family a “wild turkey” that had been black-powder hunted in Upstate NY. Sensing an unforgettable roasted centerpiece for our feast, I enthusiastically leaped at the offer–specifying that our friend arrive with the turkey to share the holiday. He agreed to accompany the bird. Garnishs confected and preparations complete, we lacked only the bird and “Uncle Joe.” The moment arrived–exceeding all expectations: the turkey had been frozen rock solid just as it had been “bagged” complete with feathers, crop full of forage, complete set of wattles, glorious full tail, and well stuffed with turkey poop. I made a command decision to strip the bird of feathers (sacrificing the skin), hosed out the icey turds, and chopped the bird to make tacchino alla cacciatore with oil-cured olives and wine-augmented rosemary branches. Fortunately, my wife had a parallel production of classic turkey crisply roasted–and both versions complemented the balsamic red cabbage w roasted chestnuts and usual trimmings. One of our tablemates sent a thankyou note along with photo of me (plastered with turkey down) grinning broadly while posed cheek to cheek with the colorful and lively looking head of our fowl. This thoughtful guest kindly provided the image with a humorous yet accurate caption:
“Two Turkeys!!!”
My most memorable Thanksgiving was this past Thanksgiving. Our two married children joined us at our house with their 8-month old babies – our first and second grandchildren. It was the first time the grandchildren had met.
My most memorable Thanksgiving moment was sharing it with family and friends this past year!
Thanksgiving is around the same time as my daughter’s birthday.
One Thanksgiving we combined the two celebrations with a turkey shaped birthday cake.
My most memorable Thanksgiving is the one we just had! We had 18 kids and 7 adults in a small house. it was crazy wonderful. This is my sister’s last year in Ohio so three other families close by joined her family. She is also trying to get her house ready to sell. She wanted to get some painting done before we came. We said “wait and we’ll help”. So while the guys watched the kids, 4 sisters dove in and patched, primed and painted two bedrooms. And yes, we did have the traditional meal in the midst of all that. I’m thankful for such a wonderful, helping family
Every Thanksgiving is a wonder of feeling the joy of still being alive and fully present and the joy of sharing food, fellowship, and just being with loved ones. I remember each dish, each parent, each cousin, each nephew/niece, each brother. Like hunting falcons spiraling out and away, we all live our own lives. Thanksgiving draws us back in, and that long moment of feeling home, secure, held, gives us the strength and vision to soar again back out into the world and do our best to be our best.
Our Thanksgiving tradition is for me to “suture” the turkey, something that I started doing as a young child when I wanted to be a doctor. I’m now in my 30s, and my father still insists I sew it up correctly, and takes a photo each time…
My most memorable Thanksgiving was this year. My mother had suvived swine flu and pneumonia in spite of having very weak lungs from asthma. It made us focus on one of the most important things to be thankful for – our family.
Most memorable Thanksgiving was probably when my wifes brother cooked two different turkeys. One smoked and one fried. YUM!
My most memorable Thanksgiving of recent years was definitely when I was seated next to GGMa (my mom’s mom’s mom) for dinner. We sat down to dinner, and had a salad for a starter. She was probably about 90 at this time. All of a sudden, I looked over, and she was choking (not badly- just ‘down the wrong pipe’) on a piece of lettuce. I had my entire feast in front of me, ready to chow down, and then watched her fish this piece of lettuce out of the back of her throat with her bony, 90 year old fingers. I lost my entire appetite, and nearly lost the appetizers that I had already eaten. Of course, being the resourceful mother of four, she quickly recovered from the mishap, grabbed the lettuce, and put it onto her plate, only mildly embarrassed. I just sat there, stunned for a bit, until I was able to collect my thoughts, and pretend that I needed something from the kitchen. I excused myself and spent a few minutes in the other room, regaining my hunger- just enough to sit back down and eat the feast.
My mother had always been responsible for the Thanksgiving dinner and all the trimmings. We typically opened our home and table to anyone who had no where to go on the holidays and my mother was a gracious hostess.
The year my father left was a hard one for all of us. It didn’t seem right to have a traditional celebration at home. I was active in a socialist/acitivist community in Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C. We were used to having large communal potlucks and inviting anyone who needed a place to go. So this Thanksgiving I told my mother, brother and sister (who were still living at home) to join my friends and comrads and bring only a side dish.
We all had a wonderful time and I was able to blend my biological family with my political one.
Our Thanksgiving tradition stretches back nearly 20 years now. We gather in Boston with extended family and a few neighborhood friends. Even as our family spreads out to the west coast and as far away as Dubai, we make it a point to meet at least this one time each year. Our Thanksgiving dinner now spans four generations of our family and we look forward to a larger and larger celebration each year.
Every year since 1971, we have had Thanksgiving with our large group of college friends. It has been wonderful watching through the years: youthful escapades, boy/girlfriends come and go, marriages, divorces, children, moves, and even death. One of the earlier of these Thanksgivings stands out as rather embarassing. We had adopted a Dalmation and didn’t feel we could leave her home, so we took her to Thanksgiving. That year it was at a college friend’s parents house (one of the earliest Thanksgiving “reunions”). Our dog was a bit rambunctious but we had her in the house. Unfortunately, she was as interested in the food as everyone else. Right before we were to eat, she found the cooked turkey stuffing (yum!) and gobbled it up — all of it! We didn’t live that down for years.
I think the funniest Thanksgiving for me was when some old friends invited me to a Thanksgiving dinner with another friend of theirs, who was hosting for the first time and very proud to do so. He tried a new style of preparing the turkey — grilling it. I was starved and only knew a few people at the dinner, so I didn’t want to complain that it was taking so long. Finally the turkey was ready. Golden brown on the outside. As I cut into my piece… there were still ice crystals. It was FROZEN in the middle. I looked around. Everyone was eating with smiles on their face. I thought I was the only one. I gagged my way through it. It wasn’t until we left with my family friends, that everyone burst into laughter in the car. They all went through the same thing. The turkey was absolutely horrible and no one wanted to say anything! To top it off, my infant son had soiled his diapers just before we left. I changed the diaper, but didn’t know where there was a garbage can, so I decided to put it outside the door and take it with us. Except I forgot. So after everyone was gone, knowing there food was a disaster, they found a soiled diaper as a “thank you” on the door step!
while working in London, my wife and i invited a group of Europeans to have thanksgiving dinner at our house. We had heard that they would not like any items made with either corn on or off the cob or cranberries. We were half right. our kind of corn is served to hogs in Europe and the guests had real trouble eating anything where the kernels were identifiable. But they did like cranberry relish (and pumpkin pie.
Cheers – The Hoppers
One Thanksgiving when I was a girl there was a big wind storm and the power went out all over town. We hadn’t cooked our dinner yet, so the day was spent in our candle-lit basement trying to make an impromptu oven out of our wood-burning stove. I don’t remember how the food turned out, but do remember how much fun we kids had watching our parents improvising dinner.
Most memorable thanksgiving was in the late 70’s in Detroit. My dad was visiting from small town oregon and I took him on the street for my standard drivetime shift covering breaking news for the local CBS All-News Radio station and was doing the standard thanksgiving day parade reports throughout the morning, when when I saw my aging father running down a side street toward Woodward Ave. As it turns out, a plain clothes police officer had been shot during a drug sting and I had parked my vehicle right in front of the apartment building where the shooting took place. I hurried back and covered the story with numerous on-scene interviews. Later in the afternoon at dinner, we prayed for the officers family and thanked God for safety in these dangerous times. I believe the police officer recovered and my dad had the best thanksgiving story for the next 10 years in his town.
The most memorable Thanksgivings are always the one’s with the largest gatherings of family and friends. I feel like Thanksgiving has been one holiday where so many family and friends of ours have attempted to come together and simply be together.
My most memorable and favorite Thanksgiving is from 2001. My husband was in the Army and he, along with so many of our friends deployed to the Middle East in the Spring of 2001 (3 months after we married). Once the attacks happened on 9/11none of us were certain when they would be returning to Post. Despite my family urging me to come home to Alaska for Thanksgiving, I decided to stay in Texas “just in case” he made it back for our first Thanksgiving as “Mr. and Mrs.”. I made the right decision as a week prior to Thanksgiving they came home.
However, none of us were within a day’s drive from our families and with last minute ticket prices through the roof, my husband and I invited what seemed like the entire Brigade for Thanksgiving dinner at our house! We had three turkeys (2 roasted/1smoked), 2 hams, an 8-pound prime rib, 4 different types of mashed potatoes, candied yams, sweet potato soufflés, green bean casserole, and on and on….everything you could imagine! We quickly ran out of chairs/surfaces to sit and eat (and thankfully, this was Texas- versus Alaska, so people were able to sit outside in the yard at this time of year!) but at least we were all together.
Last month we attended my husband’s Academy reunion and were reunited with some of those who were with us that Thanksgiving. It was a bittersweet memory as we remembered with laughter and sorrow those who had shared such a great day so many years ago and who are no longer with us.
I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!
In 1976, the first year I was on my own (after graduating from college), I was invited up to spend Thanksgiving with my uncle, who lived in Minneapolis. There was already two feet of snow on the ground and the temperature was in the low teens (before global warming). I remember snowmobiling for the first time in my life on Thanksgiving day – it was a blast!
Moving to the US a couple of years ago, I was looking for a house to rent for the whole family. I found one, but was told the day before thanksgiving that the lease will not go through… and that our container with the furniture will arrive the next weekend. Luckily friends invited me for a Thanksgiving dinner with their family and really thinks turned out solvable after that memorable day.
This year was my first Thanksgiving and I’m very grateful to have been scooped up by a friend to experience their family traditions. This is an American holiday that is easy to embrace.
The most memorable Thanksgiving I can remember was about 20 years ago. My 3 kids & I lived in a house that we were heating with 2 kerosene heaters & the fireplace. I was also hosting Thanksgiving for family & friends. I had everything on the table, turkey & all… everyone set down to eat… when I noticed that there was ashes coming up out of the fireplace & over the mantle. I got up to see what was wrong & quickly figured out that the flue had fallen shut. The heat was so intense, since the fire had been going all day, that no one could even get close enough with anything to re-open the flue. SOooo, had to call the fire department! Everyone got up from the table, grabbing their wine glasses (coats would’ve been a better choice) & went outside. The firemen came, put the children in the truck to keep them warm & went to work. One fireman that had on the proper gear, was able to reach into the fireplace & re-open the flue. The other firemen went around the whole house opening all the windows. Once everything was under control & we all came back inside, the firemen wanted to know what our plans were for Christmas! (Maybe getting the furnaced fixed…) After they left, we not only had to reheat the food, but the whole house! I was very thankful for a lot of things that Thanksgiving.
After being in the Air Force for 15 years and missing Thanksgiving with my family every year, I gave an open invitation to everyone in my shop that couldnt make it home for Thanksgiving to join my family for a taste of home. We ended up having over 50 people in our home. Many brought foods they had grown up with. It was a Thanksgiving with my military family and an experience I will never forget.
It was a great Thanksgiving because we were going to to a friend of my mother’s who lived in the redwoods. But when we got there he was drunk and the turkey was scorched. My family doesn’t let little things throw us off, we’d make it OK. But when he started waving a gun around we left. Luckily, my father had just sold a car for $50 so we went to a local restaurant which overlooked the ocean and had a turkey dinner which couldn’t be beat.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was the one where Santa decided to visit our house early. I was around 8 years old and we were going to be skiing out west that Christmas. My parents explained that Santa knew this and visited us early that year, since all of our family was already at our house for Thanksgiving. The kids at school were skeptical, but somehow I managed to believe in Santa Claus for at least three more years after that combo holiday.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was this past Thanksgiving back in October (Canadian Thanksgiving). I had the in-laws over so was really worried about whether or not the turkey would turn out. Thankfully it was very juicy and delicious! =)
My most memorable Thanksgiving was the year we visited my parents several years before my father died. We had a big turkey and we all had a great time. It was the last year my father was in good health. He and my Mom were doing great that year. The next few year were hard but our faith in Jesus carried us through them. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are wonderfully times of the year for us!
My most memorable thanksgiving was the last one with my great-grandmother. We all gathered at my grandmothers house and packed into the tiny house that is about the size of the master suite in homes today. The whole family spent the day preparing so many dishes that you couldn’t remember if you’d tried them. I’m now sending in a picture of me and my brother eating giant turkey legs at age 6 & 10.
My brother in law caught a wild turkey. Was going to deep fry it in turkey fryer. He pre-measured oil needed by using water. We filled exact amount of oil in fryer and heated it. We put turkey in and it raised oil to the very top. Perfect level. But…. when oil heated moisture in turkey , it boiled over. It started a small fire on my brand new deck. Like an idiot, i poured a glass water on it. Oil and water don “t mix. The water spread the small fire, turning it into a big fire. My 6 year old daughter was screaming big time. Fortunately I had a fire extinguisher close at hand and put the fire out. Black Friday, I spent turning the burnt boards over as they was only burnt 1/2 way through and the under side was fine. By the way, the turkey was great.
As long as I’m celebrating with my family, every Thanksgiving is most memorable. I don’t remember having missed a one – except during the Vietnam War. On the downside, the worst was last year when my daughter’s mother-in-law decided to take the opportunity of a family gathering to wash some dirty laundry. Some people don’t know when to keep their mouths shut – and have a need to pick the worst possible of times to openn it.
Thanksgiving sometime in the 70’s…living in upstate NY and planning to drive to Brooklyn…the snow started about noon on Wednesday and my husband was due home from work by 5…getting home was almost impossible and so we opted to drive to Brooklyn on Thanksgiving Day…about 18″ of snow on the ground greeted us the next day so we did not venture out. Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of hot dogs and french fries and we watched the Macy’s parade and lots of football on TV. We drove to Brooklyn on Friday in bright sunshine but were delayed several times as the roads were still being cleared.
We spent Thanksgiving watching football, eating good food and being with our family.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was three years ago when our son John was three months old. Near the end of lunch Grandma thought it would be nice to set John on the table. John then filled his diaper to overflowing and it squirted up and out of his diaper onto the white tablecloth. Grandpa then exclaimed “Cathy, he’s pooping on the table!”
Although me and the wife were horrified, Grandma just shrugged and said “thats why we have a washing machine.”
The most memorable thanksgiving for me was the year we had just gotten two kittens a few weeks earlier. Before dinner we had set all the desserts on a table. At one point I walked in with my girlfriend and one of the kittens was standing on top of the apple pie, slowly eating the crust. He was so small, he just barely broke through the top of the pie. It was hilarious, but we weren’t sure the rest of the family would think so so we didn’t tell anyone. I sure wish I had a picture of that!
My most memorable Thanksgiving was the first I spent away from my family. I was worried that having dinner with friends wouldn’t be as special, but something about it was even more special than the meals I’d shared with family in the past. I loved the camaraderie of the friends around me and the lazy vibe of the day. I’ve enjoyed Thanksgiving with friends in the years since and they have always been some of my best holiday memories…
My most memorable Thanksgiving was last year when our entire family gathered from all over the country to celebrate the holiday at my parents’ home in Texas. We were celebrating and giving thanks that My father and sister had both been given clean bills of health from their ordeals battling cancer, my parents had both been a serious auto accident requiring transporting to the trauma center in flight for life helicopters and our daughter had just announced that we were to be grandparents this year. In all we had 33 people at the dinner and had to use the dinning hall at our church to cook and serve the meal. It was a well orchestrated effort by every one to pull it off and it was a great success.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was this year. A novice cook, I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the very first time for my in-laws and some invited friends, 11 people in all. I didn’t estimate the time to cook the turkey very well, and after 4 hours, the turkey was still stuck on 160 degrees, refusing to go higher. The guests were politely waiting to eat, and dinner was now at least an hour late. It is stressful having a houseful of people waiting for the turkey that you put in the oven too late! Almost an hour and a half late, the darn bird finally got to eating temperature, and all was forgiven. Next year I’ll start earlier!
My favorite thanksgivings were up on my grandparents farm. The whole family, with grandpa carving the turkey, playing in the barn after dinner. It was so Norman Rockwell. A long cry from our fancy dinners in Chicago!
This year was extra special because my seven-year-old daughter was able to help me cook. The age-old traditions were passing from mother to daughter as they have for generations before.
Had to be the French Thanksgiving! We were living in France, and friends and family put together a truly memorable Thanksgiving feast in honor of their American cousins. Imagine roast turkey as only the French can do it, fabulous (nonstop) bottles of red wines, and delicious deserts. Alas, we missed out on pumpkin pie that year. No regrets!
My most memorable Turkey Day was in 1995 when the family dog ate the Turkey! Pulled it right off the counter while no one was looking!
My most memorable Thanksgiving was when I arrived in the US for the first time with my family. We arrived in October and knew pretty much nobody. We were not familiar with Thanksgiving either. After a couple of weeks, we started to sympathize with our neighboors and they invited us for Thanksgiving. Wonderfull atomsphere and dinner. They explained us what Thanksgiving was about and I know that my kids still remember that day
Hey, I guess the highlight of this year’s T-giving was when my mother-in-law almost hit our dog as she drove around the driveway at about 35 mph, then declared that “we must not have driveways down where we live if the damned dog didn’t know how to behave in one.” She missed the dog by two inches. My heart is still in my throat. I think I’ll stay home with the dog next year.
what a wonderful and fullfilling thanksgiving…. so thankful for being able to spend the day with family and friends. The best part was the nap afterwards… i mean naps with a full thanksgiving stomach are the best…. can not wait for an unbelievable christmas dinner..
As adults, my husband and I have always gone to visit friends in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving. Other friends of ours, Terri and Gene, also came up every year. One year, we had a significant argument with Terri and Gene a few weeks before Thanksgiving. It was a tough decision for our NH friends to decide which couple would come to the annual dinner. Finally, they decided on us. On our way up from Boston, there was a huge snow storm, slowing traffic way down, and we hit a patch of ice and did a 180 degree skid on the highway. The car behind us rammed right into us and it was head-on since we were turned around. Just as we were about to collide, we saw that it was Terri and Gene and then we crashed. It wasn’t serious, but we were less shocked by the fact of the collision than we were by who it was we collided with. When we got the cars off the road and saw that we were all OK, we asked them where they were going. They said they were on their way to our friends in NH. It turned out that our friends had invited both couples (without telling any of us), hoping that we would get over our conflict. We did and had a great dinner (except for the pie that went flying off the seat in the crash). Thanksgiving is great.
My most memorable Thanksgiving would be any of the Thanksgivings at my one aunt’s house. She was a wonderful cook, and she and her husband loved to entertain. As a child, I never fully appreciated the long, drawn-out evenings. But as I grew older, I grew to appreciate the slow pace and plentiful time to socialize with the relatives. This being the first year without her, I miss and remember those experiences even more.
Thanksgiving celebrations are typically remembered by the number of people gathered, bottles consumed, and food eaten & left over. The one that I can remember the most vivid was nearly 25 years ago. Working overseas with a couple of other guys and they decided to show off and display to the natives on how the Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Went to the nearby US Army base and managed to buy all the ingredients needed for the feast, included one good size turkey. What the boys forgot was that they didn’t have an oven, just a fancy microwave. Didn’t dawn on them until the bird was almost stuffed. Not a pretty sight when the turkey rubs against the side of the microwave on every turn. The highlight of the evening was the guests watching us manually turn the bird. All we managed was a burnt rubber looking thing. Quite sad and not very impressive to the natives. Lots of leftovers that year.
Growing up, we spent many Thanksgivings at my one aunt’s house. She was a wonderful cook, and she and her husband loved to entertain.
As a child, I never fully appreciated the long, drawn-out evenings. We would try to entertain ourselves, and sometimes we were more successful than others. During my most memorable Thanksgiving, my sister took an appreciation for one of the original pieces of art on the wall and, liking the way the artist signed their name, decided that she should crayon her name on the canvas as well. My aunt and uncle were not as thrilled as my sister was proud of herself.
As I grew older, I gained an appreciation for the slow pace and plentiful time to socialize with the relatives, and the need for crayons (or signing pieces of art) diminished. This being the first year without her, I miss and remember those experiences even more.
Every Thanksgiving is memorable to me because I’m with my family.
My most memorable Thanksgiving was around 20 years ago when I was single and living in San Francisco away from my family back East. My Armenian boyfriend (who is now my husband)and I decided to cook up a big traditional Thanksgiving meal, and invite my brother and his Chinese girlfriend, my old boyfriend (who happens to be Swedish) who was visiting, and a bunch of my boyfriend’s medical school friends–all of different ethnicities and cultures. Our dinner table looked like a meeting of the World Congress: American, Armenian, Chinese, Swede, Mexican, Indian, French, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Agnostics. For a girl from a small town in New England, this was like no Thanksgiving I’d experienced before, and it was wonderful.
NYC for the parade. First time in the big city.
My most memorable thanksgiving was this year because it was my son’s first thanksgiving.
My most memorable Thanksgiving would be this one… my wife hosted our extended family for the first time and pulled off the most spectacular Thanksgiving dinner ever.
The fun ended there, though… I then spent the next three days sorting through (literally) thousands of old slides and photos to get my ScanCafe order down to about 2,000 images. Now comes the wait – but I’m sure it’ll be worth it when my order arrives!
This is a wickedly cool service. It’s my third order and it is really such a relief after I get each order out the door.
The most memorable Thanksgiving was this year when we celebrated Thanksgiving three separate times – with Church fellowship, my wife’s family and my family! I got a mouthful of turkey and ham three times over!
Wow – there sure are alot of people using the scan cafe! My mom wil be very happy when she gets her present in January of all of the slides that my father took from 1955!