Thanksgiving was always one of my favorite holidays growing up! I loved being surrounded by my family...on any of the many sides we have. (ha) That hasn't changed to this day. However, of all the thanksgivings, my dad's hometown will always hold the fondest memories.
Thanksgiving in my dad's hometown meant many things....a road trip to East Texas, pine trees, cousins, aunts and uncles we get to see once a year, my grandpa's famous dressing, my grandma's sweet tea, running around outside, sitting at the 'kids table," being in a small town, calling and being called by your first two names, hearing stories of my dad's childhood, jars of my grandpa's bread and butter pickles that I wished for at Christmas every year instead of toys, driving around the backroads of this little town and taking a step back in time, hearing my grandma greet us all with "Hi Baby" in the biggest east texas accent and my grandpa addressing my dad as "Man."
It was not the way most of us hear "man" used. It was sincere, endearing, respectful and proud... almost as if my grandpa replaced my dad's first name with "Man" anytime he addressed him. It wasn't said in the terms "hey man,"" hi man," or "man, what a day I've had!" It was simply "Man" followed by a great big hug...silence... and "how are you?" or "Man, come with me." I have still never heard it sound quite like my grandpa and it will never have the same effect as it did when I was growing up.
We started out our first Thanksgivings at "The Farm," where my dad grew up with his 6 brothers and sisters. I am quite sure my generation of cousins had much better visions in our head than what it was actually like growing up working on a dairy farm day in and day out and raising a family! But it was something different and peaceful and familiar each year that we looked forward to!
The air was different! The sounds. The noises. It was calming even as a kid!
Visiting the farm at thanksgiving I remember sliding down the 40 foot hallway in our socks, hearing everybodys footsteps on the hardwood floors, the echos of everyones voices and laughter, running around outside with our cousins, standing back to back with everyone to see how we'd all grown from the year before, sitting on the cracked concrete steps outside catching up with each other and circling up for the prayer my grandpa lead which always ended in a room full of tears and thankfulness.
After my grandparents sold the farm, we had several thanksgivings at their home in Tyler. We still had a couple of kids tables, lots of playing outside, the smell of grandpa's sage dressing, sneaking over to sit on our parents laps to hear stories at the "adult" table, and the buffet behind my grandpa's chair that held all the pies and if we were lucky a chocolate cream pie or german chocolate cake in a sea of pumpkin and pecan pies.
Many thanksgivings after that were held at my uncle's childhood home in the same town my dad grew up in. Most of the siblings by now had their own little piece of property from "The Farm" that they bought back to keep in the family. By this time we were well up to 50 people with the original siblings, their kids and and so on! Four generations coming together!
Five years ago my aunt and uncle bought a ranch...in the same little town they both grew up in and dated, where my grandparents raised their family the best they could, where mornings began way before school started at the dairy barn, did not include many extra-curricular activities after school and nights ended later than most with farm responsibilities and homework. The same little town my grandma's parents lived in. The same little town where my grandpa opened, owned and worked in a hamburger joint in town called the Dipsy Daisy in 1954. Where my dad's great aunts taught him and most of his siblings a grade or two in school. Where another great aunt and uncle owned and ran the oldest gulf station/store in Texas. Where my grandpa started a petition in 1947 for electricity, it was granted and they owned the first tv and electric refrigerator in town.
"The Ranch" is now where thanksgiving is held. The only way to describe "The Ranch" is it is literally a piece of heaven! Acres and acres of rolling green pastures, a couple of dozen beautiful horses, a lake, swimming pool, an amazing outdoor kitchen and a perfect house!
Times are different now. Technology has gone from the simple startings of electricity to not being able to set your iphone down for five minutes. Family members have passed on. Our children are the ones running around outside all day while we adults catch up and visit inside.
But some things are still the same. And traveling back for Thanksgiving in small town Texas brings back so many memories and so much family history... even now. It is something I truly look forward to each time we get to go back! And a peace and calm still seems to take over as soon as we get out of the car to soon be surrounded by family, love, farm life, nature and stillness amongst the hustle and bustle of normal daily life many miles away.
Cousin Carly
Cousin picture !
Ali, Aunt Joni, me, Britney, Melisa
Jax loves to snuggle with Chris!
Grandma and Brooklyn
Mom and Dad visiting with Britney
Dad and Hedy
A little Game of Peek-A-Boo :)
A super sweet stray kitten the little cousins nicknamed "Poofy"
Another story about the cat coming soon to our little blog :)
Dad, Aunt Joni, Grandma, Aunt Jan, Uncle Johnny
Lily and Carly
Uncle Gary and Cade
Brooklyn
We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our trips to The Ranch at Thanksgiving! We are creating lasting memories for our children for years to come! It will be interesting to hear years from now what they took away from Thanksgivings at "The Ranch."
