Essay 4 A Memorable Thanksgiving

Essay 4
A MEMORABLE THANKSGIVING

Recently I saw a request from someone for stories about “your most unforgettable thanksgiving”. I strove to remember Thanksgivings of any variety, and while there were several notable for the attendees, etc, there was only one in the category of “unforgettable”.

I don’t remember the year, of course, but it was during the depression, when we had no money. Dad saved “cash” for necessities that required cash, like gasoline and coal, and naturally we skimped on those. Food we grew ourselves, buying almost nothing in that category. This particular Thanksgiving, Dad was not home. There was just Mother and me. She had determined, as I now reason, that she was not going to prepare anything for lunch. The menu--a can of pork and beans-- was special because it was purchased. I was not at all impressed with pork and beans for Thanksgiving Dinner, and set up a hue and cry for more. But the word was no, that was going to be it.

I embarked upon a campaign of attrition, (i.e. nutrition) and used every means possible to get her to change her mind. I had found a broken piece of a red wax pencil. I used it to draw a picture of a steaming roasted turkey on the kitchen window. The stumps of the legs were pointing at a good angle, and there were wavy lines for steaming aromas. It was a good drawing, but it infuriated Mother. I had to remove the wax, and was ordered to make a list of ten things that I had to be thankful for.

This was quite a challenge, at least temporarily. Finally, I had my list. I was then to read it. It consisted of ten ways to look at life in a manner consistent with pessimism! Now, I only remember the first item. It was “I’m thankful that Mother is not any worse than she is.”

I don’t believe that I got to read any of the others. And I don’t recall if the pork and beans tasted good, or not! But they probably did.