Several years ago, my family and I drove back to North Carolina after spending Thanksgiving with family in Pennsylvania. I wasn’t aware of it at the time, that Thanksgiving is the most heavily traveled holiday on the American calendar. I learned the hard way. The junction of I-81 and I-77 in southern Virginia was a virtual parking lot. There were long complete stoppages interrupted by slow creeps forward for a few yards. We had gassed up the car, eaten lunch, had made recent rest area calls and carried snacks and drinks in the car – so we were in pretty good shape. We could only guess what discomforts were being experienced in the vehicles around us. For all that, though, most of the travelers seemed sanguine about the experience. Many took the opportunity to leave their cars and stretch; some had footballs they were tossing around.
It struck me that I might be looking at the lingering effects of a good time spent with family and friends – the Thanksgiving after-glow, if you will. For Thanksgiving is recognized as the quintessential family holiday. Perhaps because it is centered around a meal – usually the most elaborate one of the year – and one we feel we must share with those closest to us. It is the one holiday we are either drawn to – or host for others – this “groaning board”.
When I was a youngster in a small, remote country school, we were led in a singing of Lydia Maria Child’s poem “Over the River and Through the Wood” around about Thanksgiving time. The poem is too long to reproduce here, but two stanzas stick in my mind to this day;
Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandfather’s house we go;
the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood—
now Grandmother’s cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!
So early on, we are introduced to this special holiday, and appreciate its peculiar power to bond us together. Yesterday we celebrated our Thanksgiving 2017 at the home of a dear friend of the family. Much of her clan and a few of ours filled our plates and retired to two tables to work on the traditional offerings: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce, casseroles of several varieties and desserts too tempting to ignore; wine, of course, and Irish Coffee afterwards.
As is the case most years, we missed the loving faces of several who could not make it this time. Our hostess had mounted an ingenious display to remind us of them and to include them in our thoughts for the day. Some were enjoying feasts with other family members. Some had other commitments that required their attention. One was out of the country. No matter – their pictures were posted on the door leading into the banquet lest we forget them as we carried our plates to the table.
So, Dear Thanksgiving No-Shows, you weren’t forgotten. We hope that wherever you were on this wonderful day, you didn’t forget us, either. Know that when we said Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Grace, you were included in spirit.
“For each new morning with it’s light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For Love and Friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
Amen.
Two On The Aisle 