It is, by the calendar, Thanksgiving.
Funny how this one word brings many different visions to mind.
Traditional early memories usually cover the same thoughts — the Mayflower, pilgrims, Native Americans, feast, coexistence and peace.
Religious intolerance drove the pilgrims to a new land. They were filled with fear but also wondered what awaited them. They also were hopeful for a better life for their children and for freedom of worship.
Memories also center on home, the magnet that generates travel plans, warm memories of parents, siblings and relatives.
Home is where the family table is loaded with turkey, mounds of sides and seasonal specials and desserts galore.
It is a place of happy faces, the din of conversation and roars of laughter filling the room.
Home is also where family members move after the feast to the family room to watch a football game, or maybe some favorite seasonal holiday movies.
We recall, too, such novelties as ceramic gourds and pumpkins, maple leaf style serving dishes, real leaves scattered over the table, generational family settings and linens, and maybe the all-time vote favorite: the pilgrim couple salt and pepper shakers.
These decorations are cherished for a day, but then lead a lonely existence. They adorn our table for a brief few hours a year and then are placed, in what must seem to them, in purgatory. They are hidden all year in little corners of cupboards, only occasionally exposed to light when we rummage around.
At Happy Days, the tradition continues of our Thanksgiving dinner in the hall at 4 p.m. In a way, all of the above plays out, with the Happy Days family supplanting the ones at home.
In your own way, have a wonderful Thanksgiving from all of us at Happy Days, management, staff and residents.
By Ian Marwick (the happy scribe)
Happy Days RV Park
Published November 25, 2015
