Tradition!

If you're a lover of musicals you may recall Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof singing all about Tradition. While I haven't really lived a life with many traditions, I find at times that I yearn for things that seem familiar and comfortable.

The older I get I seem to be drawn to a nostalgic urging that dictates my purchases when it comes to things like Christmas cards and ornaments. There was great joy in the past, at least in my way of thinking. Facebook may be part of this nostalgic feeling as I am not only connected to all of my siblings who are near and far, but now the neighbors we grew up with are once again in our circle of life. It's a very fond reconnect.

So, Thanksgiving morning I rose a bit early though I really didn't have to. I would be preparing dinner for just my son and me. Invitations had been given but declined and so it gave me the gift of solitude which is a gift I don't get as often as I'd like. But, I guess if I had the gift often it wouldn't feel like much of a present, now would it?

Anyway, the turkey had been thawing and I had all the preparations for our "traditional" dinner. Scaled back, mind you, but not forgoing the favorite dishes of years gone by. I was setting things up for the day, pulled the bird out of the fridge to begin roasting and of course had to go a'huntin for the innards. Why do they hide those things anyway? First I opened the neck area and pulled the neck out, followed by the packet of organs in the bag inside the rear. How many times have you cooked the turkey without pulling out that bag? No? Ok, just asking, cuz.....

I had a little pot with water in it and tossed in the neck and the innards and put it on the stove at the lowest heat possible. I said to my dearly departed mother "this one's for you". This was the way Mom always cooked the innards and then would use them in either the gravy or sometimes chopped up in the stuffing. She liked the neck, and sometimes she indulged in sampling it while we all appropriately screamed out "eeewwwww".

I'm not sure why I cooked these parts because I never used them. It just felt right to have them in their place on the stove. It was comforting to see them simmering there and think of Mom throughout the day with visions of Thanksgiving's gone by. Seeing those innards on the stovetop gave me a chance to have another thanksgiving in my heart for my Mom and Dad and the years of holiday dinners that made me feel safe, loved and happy. I'm thankful that I carry around years of good memories of a home life that was comforting to me in so many ways.

Tradition!

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