Thanksgiving Traditions? (ideas from Lisa Louise Cook's blog)
She suggests "I have my memories of Thanksgiving from when I was a kid, when I was a young adult, and then later when I was married, and had small children versus older children. However, my kids have their own memories, and grandparents have their memories too. So, now’s the time to ask about those and write them down. Those memories might have to do with food, material culture, which I’ll define in just a second, or they may have to do with events."
[My comments follow in bold italics.]
Food:
We have usually had a turkey dinner, sometimes with ham too.
We used to always make dressing (stuffing) by stuffing the turkey with bread and spices.
But we have found that in recent years cooking the stuffing in a crock pot gives a nicer result.
Vegetables from our garden have been part of our meal.
Judy has enjoyed baking fresh rolls for the dinner.
Desserts have included, cookies, cake, squares, pie and ice cream. Carrot pie has usually substituted for pumpkin pie, since we can grow carrots easily, and carrot pie tastes just like pumpkin pie.
Cranberry punch has been a popular drink. We used to make home-made rootbeer when we could.
To minimize cleanup, we liked to use foam cups and plates with plastic utensils.
Judy used to do everything herself, but in recent years family members have helped.
Everyone in the family is invited. This year we had 30 people come. It is handy to be able to use the sunroom and James's dining room.
We have had a blessing on the food that includes an expression of thanksgiving.
Then, time was spent visiting, eating, occasionally card games or other activities, such as leaf battles, computer games, tetherball, or trampoline jumping. This year we walked along the pond to the nearby play park, where the small kids could have fun on the playground equipment. Sometimes we reminisce on life on our acreage as our children were growing up. Occasionally there are stories of our ancestors.
"Document
What are some of the ways you can document your traditions? Well, you can do it with photographs. You can share photos from the past Thanksgiving. Have everybody bring the photos they have. You can even create a Thanksgiving album for your family. You can gather photos, photos from recent Thanksgivings, and even take photos of this Thanksgiving. You can ask family members to write their memories. You could also interview family members and create a video."
I have created photo albums on familysearch.org This year I had a sideshow of one of these albums running silently on out television. Family members would sometimes point out specific photos.
I also have videos of the kids playing in the leaves.
Family cookbook:
Several years ago Judy created a family cookbook and gave a copy to each of our children. I am not sue about other family members, but I know that Judy often used this cookbook.
Tablecloth: (This seems like an interesting idea.)
"Get a white tablecloth and bring out waterproof markers and ask family members to write their name. Write the date write events that have happened in the year. Write down memories if they want for little kids have them trace their hands, have them sign their name the best they can write their ages down. You can use that year after year, or you can preserve it for one specific year.
Share
"A lot of us have the habit of gathering information and then not really sharing it. But sharing it is what makes sure that things are preserved and ensures that it’s preserved that it goes down the generations. And it’s a good idea to have copies in case some are lost. Sharing is important. So how do we do that?"
Physically:
"We can do that by creating physical items like:
photo albums
flash drives (create duplicate flash drives and hand them out to the family.)
post things on social media, like a family Facebook page, or maybe a Pinterest board, or even your online family tree on Ancestry or FamilySearch
the cloud – where family members can download what they need when they need it. And you can continue to add family members over the years. And that might be done in a cloud program like Dropbox or Google Drive."
I shared the link for my online album of our family.
Any family member can download the thousands of family history items that I have attached to deceased people on FamilySearch.
"Preserve Your Thanksgiving Traditions Today
There are all kinds of ways that you can share Thanksgiving traditions and memories with other family members. Do what’s best for you what’s easiest for you, and what gets the information out there sooner rather than later. Thanksgiving is a special time and it’s something that we may all look forward to maybe because of the food or the family. I hope that you take some time this Thanksgiving to preserve your family memories. Happy Thanksgiving!"
Maybe preserve your own Thanksgiving memories and share them.
https://lisalouisecooke.com/2023/11/22/preserve-thanksgiving-traditions/
posted by Bill Buchanan | 10:46 AM
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