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Post by warrior1991 on Nov 22, 2016 19:29:53 GMT
These can be good or bad memories. Whatever you wish to share with us. When I was kid we were visiting my mom's parents for Thanksgiving and my grandma was the BEST pie maker in the world. Okay, not the world, but in the tri-county area. lol Anyway, she would make several kinds of pies a week or so ahead of time and then freeze the individual pie pieces. When it was time for pie, she would select one from the freezer, microwave it to thaw and warm slightly. Add a dollop of whip cream or ice cream and serve. This particular year, I was asked to get grandpa's and dad's pie orders. I sent to grandpa and asked him what kind of pie he wanted. He asked me what was available. (Like he didn't already know. ) I said: "pumpkin, peach, apple, and pecan." He said apple. So I go over to my dad. (Now, remember this is only an hour or so after grandma's huge yummy thanksgiving meal). I asked dad what kind he wanted. He asked me what as available. (insert me rolling my eyes at him). I said: "pumpkin, peach, apple, and pecan. Would you like one?" He said "yes." I asked "which one?" He said "yes". I was frustrated and walked back to the kitchen. I told grandma what they said. Grandma looked over at my mom with a twinkle in her eye. Mom nodded her head. I was completely confused but knew something fun was going to happen. Grandma got grandpa's piece of apple ready and handed the plate to me to serve. When I returned to the kitchen, grandma had 4 pieces of pie on the counter and was working on warming each one. I knew immediately what was going to happen. Mom got out a serving tray and after Grandma added ice cream to each piece. I proudly walked the dessert into the living room, with mom and grandma behind me. My dad's face was shocked for a second but then not to be out done, he accepted all 4 pieces and started to eat a little off each one. Everyone laughed and grandma started to remove one of the pieces of pie. Dad stopped her and said she couldn't have his pie. She said she would wrap them up for later. He said no, he was going to eat them all. And he did. It took an hour or so, but he ate them all. Ever since then, he doesn't answer "yes" to multiple choice food questions. LOL I think I had a tummy ache that day from watching him eat it all. Now it is your turn. Feel free to make us laugh or cry.
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Post by ntsf on Nov 22, 2016 19:38:16 GMT
my sister was born on thanksgiving.. and my dad spent all night before at the hospital with mom.. in the only hospital that allowed dads at labor and delivery (1965).. My sister was born at 4:30..am and dad came home and made a totally homemade thanksgiving dinner for us three kids at home. pies and everything. I was so impressed. my sister has 2 third cousins born on the same morning. they have never met. in 50 yrs.
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Post by scrapqueen01 on Nov 22, 2016 19:43:33 GMT
We would travel to visit family in my home state. We usually left Wednesday afternoon when my dad got home from work and drove until about 2 am when we would arrive at my aunt and uncle's house. They would always have sodapop, fresh veggies and sandwiches ready for us when we arrived. We would sleep for a while then drive another 4 hours. Great memory.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 12:22:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2016 19:45:40 GMT
Great stories!
I have been hosting Thanksgiving for 25 or more years. My Dad (who is 79 this year!) always makes the huge turkey (and it's always juicy and delicious!) and everyone brings sides & dessert. We always have more food than we can eat.
My Dad is a jokester and always calls early on a holiday to tease us one way or another. A few years ago though, he got me. He called and said he was on his way but the electricity was off at his house and the turkey was still not cooked. Well, we eat at 1 pm on purpose so all the younger folk can go on to inlaws houses or wherever by 3 so thinking the turkey still needed to cook and he was getting to my house just in time for the planned dinner time I was in a panic trying to figure out how I was going to cook that turkey fast so the plan would run smoothly.
He was just pulling my leg, the turkey was perfect and now he won't let me or anyone else in the family forget how he pulled one over on me. I guess I was just rushing around already when he called and silly me, believed him. I should have known better!
Y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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Post by mommaho on Nov 22, 2016 19:49:27 GMT
I love hearing your stories! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving
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Post by kimpossible on Nov 22, 2016 19:57:59 GMT
Many years ago my Grandfather (who was 99 yrs old and one month shy of turning 100) passed away.
He had been ill for sometime, so that was not the shock, but the fact that it was on a holiday really bothered some relatives. One of my especially ornery Aunt's even said, "Oh Great - every Thanksgiving is ruined now because he died on it." I was little, but still couldn't understand her negative comments.
I remember at his funeral, the clergy who officiated said something I thought was very important to help the family with the memory of his death on Thanksgiving. He said, "I choose to think that Robert made a decision to pass away on Thanksgiving because he knew his family would be together and could comfort each other after the news. It would be what he would want, all of his family together."
I have a different memory that day - its a day to celebrate togetherness, whether with family or with friends or even acquaintances. I'm thankful that someone changed the mindset of his passing on that day and made it more meaningful.
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Post by triplejscrapper on Nov 22, 2016 20:27:52 GMT
This will be the 1st time the siblings and I have gotten together for Thanksgiving since my mom passed. We didn't all get together last year. Myself, my two kids and my grandchildren ran to Florida for the week. We just weren't ready yet to do the whole "family" thing.
I would love to share with everyone the memory of my grandfather, my mom's dad, and a poem he taught all of us that he learned when he was in school. He left school after the 4th grade to help with the family farm but he would recite this to us every year and we all still remember it. I'm in the process now of trying to teach it to his great, great grand-daughter.
Thanksgiving day is coming, So Mr. Turkey said, The pumpkin heard the turkey, It frightened him, "Oh, My They'll mix me up with sugar and spice, and I'll be a pumpkin pie."
I made a huge turkey platter in ceramics years ago and while it was still greenware, carved that into the bottom of the soft platter with my grandfather's full name, his birthdate and the date of his crossing. We've served turkey from it every year since.
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Post by KelleeM on Nov 22, 2016 20:47:49 GMT
Growing up my parents cooked Thanksgiving dinner and it was the one time of the year my mom's parents came for dinner. My Gram made "angel wings" (light pastry strips that are fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar) and we were allowed to sneak a few before dinner. My mom grew up with very little and I suppose that contributed to her wanting to put out a big spread for Thanksgiving. She would make a big fruit bowl with apples, pears, grapes, oranges and bananas even though no one ever ate any of it. She would stuff dates and celery with cream cheese and peanut butter and dip the dates in coconut or walnuts. She also always had a bowl of nuts in the shells. One year I had a bunch of tiny little plastic babies (like less than an inch long...I have no idea where they came from). I remember after dinner my grandfather was opening walnuts so he could get me perfect halves of the shells so I could make little beds for the babies. I must have been about 6 or 7 years old. I loved those dinners with my grandparents. And now I'm getting weepy 😢
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Post by KelleeM on Nov 22, 2016 20:49:23 GMT
mom...now the waterworks are really coming. What a sweet picture to have.
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Post by mikklynn on Nov 22, 2016 20:57:18 GMT
My Thanksgiving laugh is the year we were doing dishes and my mom exclaimed "I forgot to eat any turkey!" Apparently it never got passed to her and she didn't notice. We make sure she has turkey every year.
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DEX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,354
Aug 9, 2014 23:13:22 GMT
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Post by DEX on Nov 22, 2016 20:59:07 GMT
My late husband was kinda BAH HUMBUG when it came to most Holidays. Thanksgiving was the one Holiday the whole fam damily could get behind because it involved food. We had 5 kids between us. T day was always spent at our house with good food and fun. It was "our" holiday. A day we would all come together. Now that he is gone, his kids no longer celebrate with me. I am sure it is because of the shock, on their part, surrounding his death. I knew it was coming. They were in denial. Part of me wants to make it all better but I can't. They have to work through it themselves. I am hoping for the day when we can all be together again.
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Post by mom on Nov 22, 2016 21:58:08 GMT
My late husband was kinda BAH HUMBUG when it came to most Holidays. Thanksgiving was the one Holiday the whole fam damily could get behind because it involved food. We had 5 kids between us. T day was always spent at our house with good food and fun. It was "our" holiday. A day we would all come together. Now that he is gone, his kids no longer celebrate with me. I am sure it is because of the shock, on their part, surrounding his death. I knew it was coming. They were in denial. Part of me wants to make it all better but I can't. They have to work through it themselves. I am hoping for the day when we can all be together again. Hugs, DEX
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Post by warrior1991 on Nov 22, 2016 22:26:11 GMT
Hugs to all of you. Reading these has brought tears to my eyes for both happiness and sadness.
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Post by papersilly on Nov 22, 2016 22:47:38 GMT
for whatever reason, i only have one Thanksgiving memory from before i got married. i was a teen and my parents were in the middle of another one of their arguments that paved the way to their divorce. so many terrible things were said. it was a complete, sad and disaster of a day. it was enough to make someone never celebrate the holiday again. fast forward a few years and i am married. the first few newlywed thanksgiving days were spent with DH's family. after that, we staked out the actual Thanksgiving Day for ourselves and my family. except for last year when my sister hosted, DH and i hosted. I'm pleased to say that all the Thanksgivings since that one disastrous one have been happy and peaceful. every year has been a nice do-over and I will always be grateful for it.
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Post by Layce on Nov 22, 2016 23:02:30 GMT
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iluvpink
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,278
Location: Michigan
Jul 13, 2014 12:40:31 GMT
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Post by iluvpink on Nov 23, 2016 0:32:06 GMT
OMG the story about the hunted turkey and the game warden. I can't imagine that! At that point why take it back, it's dead and cooked.
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Nov 23, 2016 1:37:22 GMT
My late husband was kinda BAH HUMBUG when it came to most Holidays. Thanksgiving was the one Holiday the whole fam damily could get behind because it involved food. We had 5 kids between us. T day was always spent at our house with good food and fun. It was "our" holiday. A day we would all come together. Now that he is gone, his kids no longer celebrate with me. I am sure it is because of the shock, on their part, surrounding his death. I knew it was coming. They were in denial. Part of me wants to make it all better but I can't. They have to work through it themselves. I am hoping for the day when we can all be together again. I hope that you're all able to celebrate again some day. Hopefully time will help heal your relationship.
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Post by llinin on Nov 23, 2016 2:06:58 GMT
Mine is a funny one in an odd way. In 2002, within 20 days both of my parents were diagnosed with cancer and died 14 days apart (Nov 25, Dec 9). At the time I had been a vegetarian for years, much to my Mom and Dad's chagrin. So my Mom passed the Monday of Thanksgiving week. We stayed around the clock, so Thanksgiving comes and I am with my Dad at the hospital. Several people dropped us off plates of food but we weren't really too interested.
Late in the evening, my Dad had eaten a little off a plate and asked me if I wanted some of it. I ate a little of the potatoes with gravy and a bit of dressing. I said "I bet this is full of meat" but I kept eating with his encouragement. Before you know it, I ate all the gravy and the dressing and then the turkey. I then proceeded to call my sister and asked her to bring me a slice of ham when she came back, and she was like huh?? Anyhow, my Dad was tickled I was eating meat and we sat there and laughed our asses off that I was eating meat again. My Mom would have been tickled.
It isn't super funny, but for what was an incredibly shitty time, it is a great memory that on my dad's last Thanksgiving we laughed that hard. I know some folks have to transition back in to meat, but I was able to dive right in, lol.
Love reading everyone's stories, sorry for the sad ones.
Happy Thanksgiving! Laura
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 12:22:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2016 2:13:30 GMT
Mine is a funny one in an odd way. In 2002, within 20 days both of my parents were diagnosed with cancer and died 14 days apart (Nov 25, Dec 9). At the time I had been a vegetarian for years, much to my Mom and Dad's chagrin. So my Mom passed the Monday of Thanksgiving week. We stayed around the clock, so Thanksgiving comes and I am with my Dad at the hospital. Several people dropped us off plates of food but we weren't really too interested.
Late in the evening, my Dad had eaten a little off a plate and asked me if I wanted some of it. I ate a little of the potatoes with gravy and a bit of dressing. I said "I bet this is full of meat" but I kept eating with his encouragement. Before you know it, I ate all the gravy and the dressing and then the turkey. I then proceeded to call my sister and asked her to bring me a slice of ham when she came back, and she was like huh?? Anyhow, my Dad was tickled I was eating meat and we sat there and laughed our asses off that I was eating meat again. My Mom would have been tickled.
It isn't super funny, but for what was an incredibly shitty time, it is a great memory that on my dad's last Thanksgiving we laughed that hard. I know some folks have to transition back in to meat, but I was able to dive right in, lol.
Love reading everyone's stories, sorry for the sad ones.
Happy Thanksgiving! Laura
What a sweet memory!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Nov 23, 2016 3:46:20 GMT
My niece Gianna was born on November 1, 2001. A few days after that, my husband and I had a devastating and very painful "break up" with some very old and (we thought) dear friends. It is still one of the most painful things I have experienced.
We went to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving that year and just loved on that little bundle of baby. She was such a huge comfort!
Two years later, we had moved about 10 hours away, and I was missing my niece and her big brother so much! We had just lived about 10 minutes from them before we moved, and it was hard to leave. We went back to my SIL's for Thanksgiving that year, and those toddlers just snuggled with me the whole weekend. I really thought they would have forgotten me!
Tonight we're on route to my SIL's for Thanksgiving again...the toddlers are 15 and 16 years old now and not big on snuggling, but I'm still excited to see them. :-)
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Post by lancermom on Nov 23, 2016 3:55:37 GMT
My Thanksgiving laugh is the year we were doing dishes and my mom exclaimed "I forgot to eat any turkey!" Apparently it never got passed to her and she didn't notice. We make sure she has turkey every year. My mom did the same thing!! Now every year we tease her. Two years we drove to Door County, WI to spend Thanksgiving with my whole family. Little kids in the kitchen, adults in the dining room. The table was out as far as it could go, but we still needed to add another. We were talking, laughing and having fun. Someone said something to cause my cousin to spit out her water all over her sisters plate. Which was full of food.!she still ate it! Next year, my aunt (mother to same cousins) brought her boyfriend to put holiday. He is over six foot. So talk man tries to sit at the extra table, hits it and boom. Water spilled all over a plate. Who's plate? My poor cousin who had the spit water on her plate the year before. Now whenever our family gets together. She waits until we are all seated before she gets her food. And sits on and end where no one can spit on her plate.
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Post by berty on Nov 23, 2016 5:24:36 GMT
Thanks everyone for sharing such wonderful, and sometimes bittersweet, stories. Mine is pretty lame. My Mom isn't the world's best cook, but she tries. One year, she found a simple cheesecake recipe she was excited to try. After baking, she thought it seemed a little underdone but that it would firm up overnight in the fridge. Well, come dessert time she cuts into it and the top gives way to a soupy mess underneath. We felt so bad that we insisted on eating it, even though it had to be served in bowls! (It actually tasted pretty good.) We named it cheesecake soup and she's always stuck with making pumpkin pies ever since.
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zookeeper
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,909
Aug 28, 2014 2:37:56 GMT
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Post by zookeeper on Nov 23, 2016 5:36:18 GMT
My sweet SIL and I were in charge of making mashed potatoes. We were feeing two hungry husbands and three hungry boys. We kept peeling and peeling and peeling. We were terrified of running out of mashed potatoes. As we realized that we were approaching "feeding a football team" status....we said at least you can never have too many mashed potatoes.
We ended up eating mashed potatoes leftovers for three days! It was so much!
The running joke after that was don't let Carol and Shannon make the potatoes...they are trying to feed an army!
She passed 6 years ago and I still smile when I make pot of mashed potatoes. I can hear her giggling about the mountain of potatoes that we made!
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Post by scrappintoee on Nov 23, 2016 6:11:03 GMT
Ohhh, I LOVE everyones' stories!!! As I say in many other threads---I WISH Ihad the time to make SO MANY comments, but it'd take forever! 1. DEX ----Sending you and your children lots & LOTS of (( hugs ))!!! 2. KelleeM ---sooo sweet!!! I used to make little beds for many of my toys--not just my sweet DOLLS that I loved, but regular toys had beds made for them, too---(my nurturing side bloomed early, I guess!) totalllly relate to your story! 3. mom ....ohhh, that is SO, SO sweet, I have some tears welling up And I'm sorry that you'll be missing her this year! (( Hugs ))4. kimpossible ....I LOVE that different perspective your relative had on Grandpa'sdeath! ---Although it was terribly SAD, of course----I would be thankful we were all together to grieve with eachother, too!
5. llinin....So sorry that you lost BOTH parents so close together!!! But I LOVE that you and your Dad had so much fun! I especially LOVE hearing stories of grandparents......ours were lovely,but they lived far from us, so we only saw them a few times in our entire lives!Looking back, I really wish I'd known all of them better. I'm also fascinated by and LOVE to hear stories of Aunts, Uncles, and cousins!My Dad is an only child who also spent many years in boarding schools; so he's fascinated by large families, too. We only hadcousins on our mom's side, which we literally met ONCE. Plus, my Mom'sone sister died very young, so I never met her. I don't have any good or unique stories, since many of our holidays were awful dueto my Mom's EXCESSIVE ** drinking / parents' bitter arguments / then divorce ...ugh!On a POSITIVE note , it was SOOO nice to have my best friend's to go over to once I was done with sad dinner at home....There were a few times I took my baby brother with me, so that he could also experience fun familes along with me Her parents were SO kind to us---I still refer to them as my "second parents" . This was when I was age 14 and up, and I never told them how horrible it was at our house; but maybe they figured it out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S....Who else sang that song (" Over the river?" ) about Thanksgiving while you were in Elementary school ? Never spending holidays with grandparents or other extended family, I'd always think "oh COOL.....not only do they go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house, but they got to go in a SLEIGH!"
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 12:22:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2016 7:01:38 GMT
Growing up we had the Norman Rockwell thanksgiving. So bloody f'ing perfect. Women did all the work and men ate. Then one year the second oldest cousin cousin refused to come to dinner. Not good since others decided if she could do they could too, then grandma died and my aunt right after. And family dinners just went downhill from there.
I moved to Montana and my husband's mother would work herself into tizzy getting dinner ready. AND YOU COULD NOT HELP what-so-ever. The last time we had dinner with them she food poisoned us. Like we should have gone to the hospital poisoned us.
Now I sometimes invite people and sometimes I don't. We are very low key.
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Deleted
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Apr 29, 2024 12:22:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2016 7:02:54 GMT
And we actually went through the woods and over the creek to get grandma's house!
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Post by peasapie on Nov 23, 2016 7:39:37 GMT
I've loved reading each of these and hope to see many more. My kids particulatly remember the Thanksgiving the first year I was separated. It was a tough time for us being on our own and, in addition, I had an emergency hysterectomy just before Thanksgiving and I was released from the hospital on that Thursday. So my kids decided to order a turkey and trimmings from the local diner, and we ate together while I was laying on the couch. It was a tough time, but being *us against the world* was empowering for all of us.
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Post by peasapie on Nov 23, 2016 7:45:50 GMT
Ohhh, I LOVE everyones' stories!!! As I say in many other threads---I WISH Ihad the time to make SO MANY comments, but it'd take forever!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S....Who else sang that song ("Over the river?" ) about Thanksgiving while you were in Elementary school ? Never spending holidays with grandparents or other extended family, I'd always think "oh COOL.....not only do they go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house, but they got to go in a SLEIGH!" I know Patter has! :-)
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ladycamaro
Junior Member
Posts: 59
Aug 27, 2014 20:01:48 GMT
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Post by ladycamaro on Nov 23, 2016 7:55:06 GMT
I grew up in central Florida. Sometimes we were barefoot and wearing shorts and sometimes we wore shoes and long sleeves at Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was always at (great-grandmother) Granny Kelsey's house. She always had home made dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls. My favorite was the ambrosia which was several kinds of citrus but never any grapefruit, coconut and red maraschino cherries. After we ate, if there had been a frost, we would go to the bigger groves down the street and pick citrus. The citrus gets sweet after the first frost. If no frost then we just played in the grove in Granny's backyard. We always climbed the kumquat trees to pick and throw kumquats at each other. They sting when you get hit. And we always got in trouble over those kumquats.
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Post by Patter on Nov 23, 2016 11:20:28 GMT
Ohhh, I LOVE everyones' stories!!! As I say in many other threads---I WISH Ihad the time to make SO MANY comments, but it'd take forever!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S....Who else sang that song ("Over the river?" ) about Thanksgiving while you were in Elementary school ? Never spending holidays with grandparents or other extended family, I'd always think "oh COOL.....not only do they go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house, but they got to go in a SLEIGH!" I know Patter has! :-) Oh yes, I have. Check out the first post in this thread! 2peasrefugees.boards.net/thread/51822/fluff-post-happy
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