Treasured Thanksgiving Memories

Phyllis Lifestyle 19 Comments

Thanksgiving week has always been a favorite of mine. When I was a schoolgirl many, many years ago, I remember with great fondness the pine cone turkeys we would all make. This signified that a wonderful season was ahead. Then the Pilgrim hats would be made next, and the Thanksgiving season was officially underway.

We rode to our grandparents’ homes (thankfully they lived close to each other!) in North Alabama, and each grandmother would have prepared her specialty for us. Shortly after our arrival, all the cousins would come, and it was a time of catching up and having so much fun! Our dads would be glued to the TVs for the rival games during the weekend, and the girl cousins would stay outside on the swings on the porch.

I am thankful for so many things and thank God for his many blessings. My family has always been the most important gift for which I am thankful. I know you have many things for which you are thankful. Our memories give us a foundation for today. At the time, we really didn’t know how important those times together would be. It would be fun to go back and do it all over again. But we can’t. We can stop and realize that time is all we have, and the people with whom we spend that time should be those we treasure the most.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I pray you will create memories that will enrich your lives.

Comments 19

  1. I love Thanksgiving because it is a relaxing holiday with no rush to buy gifts for every one. We always have the traditional meal. A few years ago we started another tradition, we make cranberry jell-o. We have it after supper. It is so soothing and not filling at all. Phyllis I am thankful for this blog and all the lovely Hoffman magazines. Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. God Bless you and yours.
    Marilyn

  2. I always watch the Macy’s Day Parade. Thanksgiving is such a pleasant holiday. It is a quiet time for us. I celebrate with my twin sister and our older sister. It has always been just my late parents and sisters. All of our family moved away when I was very small. I love the food as it is my favorite. Phyllis wishing you and yours a blessed happy Thanksgiving.
    Marion

  3. I cherish the memories I have when I was a little girl. My parents and I would go to my maternal grandmother’s apartment. My mother’s siblings would all be there. My grandmother would make pudding for me because at the time I was little I did not like pumpkin pie. I did change my mind about the pie as I got older. We would eat so late that I was starting to get sick to my stomach from hunger. I still make my grandmother’s stuffing recipe. My mother and her family are all gone now,but I do have my memories.
    HAPPY THANKSGIVING
    Joan

  4. Happy Thanksgiving to you Phyllis, your family and all of your Hoffman Media dedicated staff!
    Many great memories being shared I love them all, now I just started playing your fabulous piano CD…..and can say I just Thank God for all that he has blessed us with, friendships near and far and not forgotten. Will make this Thanksgiving as special as all others…the warmest of Holiday greeting to you and yours,
    California Carmel

  5. Thanksgiving is a wonderful day and it’s so important to give thanks for all we have and show our love for family and friends. I agree with the others I appreciating the lovely publications you put out. I think
    Of Philippians 5:8 and think of things that are lovely and of good report. A welcome change to the ugliness and negstivity thrown at us all the time . Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

  6. My note of sympathy to your family. When your sister suffered such a terrible loss I felt such a sadness When she wrote the two columns for you they were written with humor and style I think her spirit is heavy now but she has you and you are so thoughtful I know you will nurse her thru this loss I grieve the loss of her spunkiness When she wrote she had a real fun way of thinking. So sympathies to your family.

  7. So many happy memories! I pray that my Grands will have sweet memories with their cousins, like we have.
    Thanksgiving at the farm, we have a propane tank. I always want to recreate our picture on the tank with my Grands. Hopefully this year!
    Love you.

  8. Thank you for sharing your memories. Family and wonderful memories are such a blessing. My family is much smaller now, having lost very important parts of it, but I still have the beautiful and often funny memories.
    One funny one which comes to mind is my dad sneaking an olive and a bread ‘n butter pickle from the tray! My sister and I would do that, too. We would repeat it until Mom caught us !

  9. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect. I have written you before but need to do it again. Thank you for Hoffman Media and your commitment to publishing beautiful magazines and books. I cannot find enough words to describe the joy they bring. Happy Thanksgiving!

  10. With all the many joys coming our way this time of year I pause to remember the many blessing I have received this year. When I count them I count you twice. Twice because you are so willing to share your busy life with us on the Ribbon and because of your publications that are on my coffee table. Each bring me moments of peace and relaxation when I have time to sit. I’ve always thought that whatever I read, listen to or view should bring me beauty in some way and that if a tear comes to my eyes, all the better. So cook the turkey, make the pies and sides and enjoy your many friends and family this Thangiving knowing we are thankful for all you do,

  11. I echo the kind thoughts and thanks previously expressed.
    It is always a blessing to connect with those who respect and honor our individual stories as well as noting our shared experiences. No matter the quantity nor description of our individual family, it is, prayerfully, the source of strength to which we all return whether in continued physical sharing of meaningful events or in wonderful memories of events of times past. Blessings to each of you Ribbon Friends…

  12. We just came from a funeral…a Homegoing…of a precious lady who was so dear to everyone in our community. She happened to be a sister-in-law to my aunt and a sister-in-law to my husband’s aunt. People look at us strangely sometimes when we talk about this….but his aunt and my aunt happened to marry brothers. So we each have cousins who are cousins to each other…I know…that sounds like a bit much…but anyway we have just claimed to be cousins all around because we all kind of grew up together and had so much fun.
    Cousin time together…especially during the holidays…eating Grandma’s delicious food and playing outside…no matter what the weather was like…created lifetime memories…which we were reminincing about today. So many precious memories to be thankful for.
    During this holiday season may sweet memories and God’s precious presence help to fill the void of a loved one who has gone Home . Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Phyllis! Thank you for all you do in bringing us the lovely and meaningful….and delicious…things in life!

  13. I really miss the frequency of your blog writings, Phyllis. Your words always encourage, always remind us of what( or whom) is true and good and beautiful. For me, Thanksgiving is a time associated with family gatherings and feasting. It’s also been a time to be grateful for abundance but also to become more aware of the needs of those around us. I’m grateful for family and friends; I’m grateful to have the means to reach out to strangers who may, over time, be brought into the circle of family and friends. I’m grateful also for you , Phyllis. Please keep sharing your love and encouragement through your blog. Happiest Thanksgiving!

  14. Being Canadian, we celebrate Thanksgiving in early October. But I had an American born grandmother and although she died very young, in her honour I also celebrate this Thanksgiving! This also lets me extend my favourite season of autumn!
    Katarina mentioned her grandmother was from Ukraine…my mother also immigrated from there to Canada and quickly learned all the foods and traditions associated with Thanksgiving , but from school….and it turned out to be her favourite feast to prepare and our favourite family holiday!
    Thank you Phyllis for bringing us all together on this ribbon and for all the readers who contribute their thoughts and ideas.
    Happy Thanksgiving!

  15. Thank you for all you do to nurture our desires to create good memories. I’m not sure you realize how important your work is to many, many people. We have your magazines everywhere right now as inspiration for our preparations. And it is a joy to know others treasure memories that were created by our loving grandmothers. One of my grandmothers was an immigrant from Ukraine, and she was deeply grateful for the life she had in this country. She told me, when I was very young, of a lady in her church who taught her how to prepare an American Thanksgiving meal. Many decades later, I did the same thing with a young immigrant family and they embraced Thanksgiving as if they had celebrated it their whole lives. (Every year, though, they need me to resend my cranberry sauce recipe!)

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

  16. Dear Phyllis, I thank God for all he has done for us and given to us in the past year. May God bless you, your family and all the readers of The Ribbon in My Journal.

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