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What we didn't know when we planned our special trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house that year, was that it would be our last Thanksgiving in that old rambling home.
My younger brother and I were in our teens and although we knew Grandpa was in his eighties and had been under a doctor's care, we are never really prepared for the things in life that God controls.
So, with only exciting thoughts for the holiday ahead, we started out in Dad's old Studebaker for the house where they lived.
The trip was a good three hours drive from the city, and it was the house Dad had grown up in. My grandfather had been the editor of the town newspaper as well as a school teacher. Grandma had been busy raising a large family, and although most of her family were now scattered in various directions across the states, on this special
Thanksgiving everyone was together.
With large bedrooms upstairs and family members who lived in town, there was ample room for sleeping.
The day before Thanksgiving always demanded a lot of time and energy, as the preparations for a large group and meal was always made into a fun and loving time. How I enjoyed learning to fix fresh pie pumpkins, cooking them until tender, and mixing the pumpkin with eggs, sweet milk and spices, while someone else made the crusts. We could bake three pies at one time in the old oven, and to this day, I cannot eat a store bought pumpkin pie! There was ongoing activity in that large kitchen, and an old table on a screened porch outside to place items that couldn't be refrigerated, due to space.
Many times we would go ice skating or just walk in the snow. We always found fun things to do. Grandma usually had a wonderful hot kettle of soup simmering, with the smell of homemade breads, fresh from the oven. The night before Thanksgiving was more casual and after eating we often played board games or sang songs around the piano.
The smell of good things cooking would awaken us on Thanksgiving morning and we'd make our own breakfast taking turns helping out when needed in the kitchen. As I think back, I don't ever remember it being a chore, rather a fun time with laughter and talking with my cousins, aunts and grandmother.
On Thanksgiving morning, a few of the guys would join Grandpa down in the old cellar and shovel coal into the furnace. The women would help Grandma set the table and assist with the large hearty breakfast menu.
My Grandfather had been in good spirits and happy to have his family around. It was fun to talk with him, because he had so much history to share about "the olden days." But after the food had been prepared, and the turkey was roasting in the oven, Grandpa said he had a surprise.
And soon we heard it -- the sound of bells. Grandpa told us to get our warm coats, hats and mittens on and everyone was to gather on the front porch.
With the new snow that had fallen during the night the sight in front of me that afternoon was breathtaking. It wasn't like anything I'd seen in the city. In front of the driveway, was a team of horses pulling a sleigh.
Grandpa told us to all pile into the sleigh, and sit close to one another to stay warm. There were two long benches that faced one another, with seating in the middle, and blankets that Grandma brought out to help keep us warm. Some friends who had a farm nearby were seated up front to take charge of the horses.
Everyone, young and old, got into the sleigh on that Thanksgiving Day. I remember the country roads and the beautiful white snow that blew like a soft feather into my face, and made such a picturesque landscape where we rode. It was bumpy in spots, and over the fields the sleigh runners threw off snow as we sped along.
Songs that the older crowd knew were sung and we joined in, while the sleigh bells made music as two farm horses led the way.
It was like magic to me.
And I only wish it could have happened again.
I don't remember the details of the big meal that year, only that it was a wonderful Thanksgiving because of the memory that Grandpa helped to make.
When we trust God and know He holds the future, we can be assured that He has some special plans. I think Grandpa knew that this may have been his last Thanksgiving, and wanted to make sure that year was special.
A number of Thanksgiving years run through my mind as I recall my youth, yet whenever I see a Christmas card with a sleigh on the cover, it brings back a vivid picture of that day with my loved ones.
I'll always be grateful that God allowed Grandpa to share that last Thanksgiving with us and for the memory of the family sleigh ride -- with the bells ringing and the horses that took us through a glistening white blanket of snow.
by Diane Dean White
GRANDPA'S THANKSGIVING GIFT
"In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil. And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November."
- Rose G. Kingsley
Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The antistatic agent apparently weakens the bond between the food.
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