Saving Thanksgiving Memories with Children

One friend mentioned she is compiling a journal of holidays. 

Some are memories of former days and some are a record of current celebrations.

What are your memories of Thanksgiving?  Encourage your children (young and older) to recall their Thanksgivings.

I recall driving to my grandmother’s farm, 45 mile away, on Thanksgiving morning.  Mother had stuffed and roasted a large chicken.  (Turkeys weren’t readily available in stores then.  So, unless we raised them or knew someone who did, we cooked one of the hens we did raise.)  The large roaster pan was warm, and Mother wrapped it with a flannel sheet.  Then she put it on the floor in front of the back seat of the car.  The children who sat in the back put their feet on the roaster to keep them warm.  (The heater in the old Studebaker didn’t put out much heat that reached the back.)

Another time we drove 275 miles to Uncle Charles and Aunt Freda’s home in NH for Thanksgiving weekend.  That was a big event in those days, and I don’t know why Father and Mother decided to make the trip with four children.  I still have photos from that visit and recall the joy we experienced.