Scrooge learned valuable lessons from Christmas’ past, present and future.

What can I learn from Thanksgivings’ past?

I’m learning the importance of preparation.

Mom prepared big dinners with butter basted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with giblet gravy, butternut squash, garden salad, parsnips and cranberries. No Thanksgiving table was complete until she added a dish of relish, gherkin pickles, green and black olives. The day before, she rolled out crusts for pies on our kitchen table. There were usually three pies on the menu; her favorite of cherry, pumpkin and mince meat. Most of my Thanksgiving memories revolve around my parents and siblings.

Yet, I’m learning the importance of extended family.

I have memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in the homes of my Aunt Jessie and Uncle Wallace Ford, Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Alex Ford and in the homes of our grandparents (Fords’ and Ferris’). Those gatherings involved cousins and others. For a dinner, when I was very young, one of my mother’s aunts rode a city bus out to the country to join us. As I recall, she brought boxed chocolates. Recollections are sometimes dim memories.

I’m learning to keep the light of the world in my Thanksgiving traditions.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12 KJV).”

Published articles in Mature Living Magazine, Devotions for the Deaf, The Secret Place, Coosa Journal, Mary Hollingsworth's The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter, Jo Krueger's Every Day in God's Word. http://www.pamforddavis.com
 http://www.faithwriters.com/member-profile.php?