HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!

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I hope you all have a great day, bury any differences you have and be thankful that you are alive as are all those who share your day with you.

From Us to You Happy Thanksgiving

Mom had her special turkey roasting pot with cover and when she took it out it meant Thanksgiving. When Albert Einstein came to this country, he celebrated the day by being very thinkful.

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store the other day at Stop & Shop, but couldn't find one big enough for her family. So she asked the butcher, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The butcher answered her, "No ma'am, they're dead."

But we celebrate Thanksgiving so we know when to start the Christmas Holidays, although this year the Jewish people kick off both Hanukah and Thanksgiving on the same day. As you know, they are pretty smart people so they must be onto something we’re not!

Back in the day, Thanksgiving was a special day. The grownups got dressed with ties and jackets and fancy dresses, and that was just the men, and the kids too were well groomed for the day. You would see cousins and aunts and uncles. In my family, the aunts were particularly troublesome, as they walked into the house, get one look at me after a year since the last visit, squeeze my cheeks and say, ”MY how you have grown!” This was followed by a spittle bath, as she slobbered all over my face like a friendly dog! My uncles would always ask questions as a form of self-introduction. “Hey, you got any scotch for your uncle?” OR “You playing little league?” or “whose kid are you?”

Every now and then on Thanksgiving, we would all sit at the table, and someone would decide we needed to say grace. Now we were good people that didn’t pray all that much, since we were busy arguing or yelling at each other. My father and uncles would squirm and feel uncomfortable with my mother and aunts watching for one of the men to say something embarrassing. “Eh, Tessie, pass the escarole!” or “Who’s got the stuffin?” or “Hey Tony, pass the wine down here already.” Followed the collective Amen.

Conversations always had one radical in the mix, usually someone who married into the family and not of the same persuasion when it came to politics. “Whadda you some kind of Communist?” This was followed by a wave of the arm, and “AH! You don’t want to hear the truth.”

The day after Thanksgiving was not considered just a Friday, or Black Friday, but an extension of the day before. It was my favorite part of the holiday, when the turkey sandwiches with leftover Italian sausage stuffing and wine came out. There was no work that day and a lot of the relatives were still lingering around, like a morning after the fish you made the night before. We would chat and laugh and eat, like the menu was a whole new one!

HO-HO-HO! I'm not far behind now!

So, have a Happy Thanksgiving, eat a lot, including dessert, drink as much as you like, just don’t burp out loud or cut the cheese.