On Thanksgiving and Family and Friends
Jean Sexton muses:
For our friends from countries other than the United States, I ask your indulgence as I write about Thanksgiving, a holiday indigenous to the United States. Each family has its traditions and most of them include gathering together and indulging in food. Nationally, one turkey is traditionally granted a presidential pardon. However, I am reminded of a family friend who raised a turkey and planned to have him for dinner on this holiday. The little fellow followed our friend around his yard and gained a name of "Tom." Somehow he wasn't quite big enough for Thanksgiving when that day came around. He still wasn't big enough by Christmas. After that, he was too big and "too tough to eat." He lived out his days in peace, much loved by our friend.
My family won't have that trouble this Thanksgiving. We will gather at my brother's home and he will fry a couple of turkey breasts. (Do be careful if you want to fry a turkey -- there are many pitfalls. My brother is a professional in the food business and knows how to do it correctly.) My mother will cook a few family favorites. I'll bring some others and we will feast throughout the day.
If all goes as planned, this will probably be my last Thanksgiving in North Carolina. Next year I will be in Texas, making new traditions. It will be a change, but I am know that I'm up to meeting that one. And I won't be alone -- my ADB family will be there.
Finally, I would like to close with these words from the Thanksgiving proclamation issued by President Kennedy in 1961.
This year, as the harvest draws near its close and the year approaches its end, awesome perils again remain to be faced. Yet we have, as in the past, ample reason to be thankful for the abundance of our blessings. We are grateful for the blessings of faith and health and strength and for the imperishable spiritual gifts of love and hope. We give thanks, too, for our freedom as a nation; for the strength of our arms and the faith of our friends; for the beliefs and confidence we share; for our determination to stand firmly for what we believe to be right and to resist mightily what we believe to be base; and for the heritage of liberty bequeathed by our ancestors which we are privileged to preserve for our children and our children's children.
For our friends from countries other than the United States, I ask your indulgence as I write about Thanksgiving, a holiday indigenous to the United States. Each family has its traditions and most of them include gathering together and indulging in food. Nationally, one turkey is traditionally granted a presidential pardon. However, I am reminded of a family friend who raised a turkey and planned to have him for dinner on this holiday. The little fellow followed our friend around his yard and gained a name of "Tom." Somehow he wasn't quite big enough for Thanksgiving when that day came around. He still wasn't big enough by Christmas. After that, he was too big and "too tough to eat." He lived out his days in peace, much loved by our friend.
My family won't have that trouble this Thanksgiving. We will gather at my brother's home and he will fry a couple of turkey breasts. (Do be careful if you want to fry a turkey -- there are many pitfalls. My brother is a professional in the food business and knows how to do it correctly.) My mother will cook a few family favorites. I'll bring some others and we will feast throughout the day.
If all goes as planned, this will probably be my last Thanksgiving in North Carolina. Next year I will be in Texas, making new traditions. It will be a change, but I am know that I'm up to meeting that one. And I won't be alone -- my ADB family will be there.
Finally, I would like to close with these words from the Thanksgiving proclamation issued by President Kennedy in 1961.
This year, as the harvest draws near its close and the year approaches its end, awesome perils again remain to be faced. Yet we have, as in the past, ample reason to be thankful for the abundance of our blessings. We are grateful for the blessings of faith and health and strength and for the imperishable spiritual gifts of love and hope. We give thanks, too, for our freedom as a nation; for the strength of our arms and the faith of our friends; for the beliefs and confidence we share; for our determination to stand firmly for what we believe to be right and to resist mightily what we believe to be base; and for the heritage of liberty bequeathed by our ancestors which we are privileged to preserve for our children and our children's children.
posted by Federation Commander at 7:09 AM
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