How about some smooth and lovely music to play while your family cooks together?
Ah, Nat King Cole's Unforgettable instantly transports me back to my Gram's kitchen...the smell of turkey and cornbread dressing, gravy simmering on the stove, and the whir of that 1-beater mixer as my Gram makes her homemade whipped cream in the crock with the chip... The iced tea already sweating in the heavy green glasses...the small hands sneaking black and green olives from the middle of the table...Just waiting on the pan of rolls to turn golden--filling the house with their warm, yeasty aroma...
Finally. Finally grabbing hands to make a circle in the middle of the kitchen. These hands that bind our hearts together as family. My Gram asking my uncle to pray--but NEVER failing to remind him, "Berry Lee, we've got rolls in the oven, so not too long."
I'd give anything to have that same circle again, hear those same heartfelt prayers again, see my short little grandmother with the splattered apron tied around her waist, directing us through the line and to our appointed places. To sit leisurely at that table, and listen to those old stories again.
I am full of thanks for happy memories.
What sights and sounds take you back...to Thanksgiving pasts?
