Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really nice this year.  We actually started a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, deciding to invite our neighbors to our house so we could get to know them.  We had taken a loaf of banana bread to Ida (apparently everyone introduces themselves by their first names but no last name) who lives above us a few weeks ago, but just visited at her door for a few minutes.  We had also met Lucille (the mother) and Debbie (the daughter) one Sunday when they were coming down the stairs to go to church at the same time we were leaving.  And Gene, the man next door, we haven't officially met yet, just exchanged fleeting glances once or twice.  So a week and a half before the big day, we went upstairs and knocked on Lucille and Debbie's door.

They already had plans to go to Liverpool (a suburb of Syracuse) to Lucille's brother's, but they invited us in to visit.  We had a great time.  Lucille is probably about in her late 80s and stands about 4'10" tall.  Debbie is probably in her late 40s or early 50s, never married, but has lived with her mother since her father died about 3 years ago.  They have lovely "upstate New York" accents, broad "A" very much like Edith in "All in the Family" if any of you remember that TV show.  Debbie works in a Catholic day care for young children and really enjoys her work.  She worries a lot about the welfare of her mother, calling her 2-3 times a day while she is at work.  Lucille thinks she is a worry-wort.

Lucille told us Ida goes to her sister's for Thanksgiving, so we didn't drop in on her; Gene didn't seem to be home, so he didn't get invited, either.  This left us all alone, but we were invited to the Bulloch's, so we went.

We took the cranberry/apple/marshmallow salad that we had enjoyed in Japan, a batch of stuffing made from oatmeal bread, and a mincemeat pie.  No one but us seemed to know what mincemeat pie is made of.  I had fun educating them about this delicious treat.  The Bullochs provided the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, corn and green jello salad, as well as pumpkin pie for dessert.  Elders Miller and Farrens, the APs, brought their scriptures.  The meal was wonderful, the company great and everyone tried a piece of mincemeat pie, but there was still plenty to take home to enjoy.  After we finished eating, we retired to the family room and told stories.  We all enjoyed Bill's stories about scouting, his family, especially the story about Emory hoisting the cat up the flag pole in a bucket again and again, becoming more and more enthusiastic until he forgot to stop when the bucket got to the top of the pole and the bucket stopped but the cat didn't.  The gestures and sound effects were priceless and had the whole company in stitches.  All in all, we had a really good time.

Sister Bulloch was kind enough to send home turkey, potatoes--we actually some of everything on the menu! So we have been enjoying Thanksgiving ever since.  We watched an episode of the Gracie Allen and George Burns Show and George was talking about turkey--all the ways they had eaten left over turkey.  His last comment was, "But I really enjoyed the turkey today.  I haven't had turkey for... Oh, probably three weeks when we finished the left overs from last year!"