HAPPY THANKSGIVIING

By Vernalee

Happy Thanksgiving! As we cook, bless the food, and enjoy the day off, it is a joyous time of reflections. Oh yes … Thanksgiving is more than a day of the huge feast – turkey, ham, dressing, cakes, and pies. Though the delectable food is yummy to our tummies! It’s more than a day of parades and countless football games. It is a day to be thankful – thankful for life, loved ones, family, friends, blessings, and the amenities of living! Recognized as one of the busiest travel times, traditionally, many people travel near and far to be with and share time with people that they love. Kindred spirits are the order of the day. However, this year, because of the coronavirus, we are encouraged to stay home and celebrate the day with our immediate family. However we gather, we must keep in mind that the holidays can be a lonely time for some! Let's share our fortunes of love, kindness, and resources with others even if it’s virtual. Let not our love be selfish and superficial; ignoring the needs of others. Turning our heads should not be an option. Let our love be overflowing like a cornucopia. I am sure that the recipients of our generosity will be thankful! For certain, we would have left them better than we found them! That feeling should fill our souls as much as the Thanksgiving meal filled our tummies! Blessings! Photo credit: www.startribunecom

PREPARING THE MEAL

By Vernalee

The holidays, particularly Thanksgiving bring so many fond unforgettable memories. Allow me to share. For decades, the kids and I always went home to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my Mother. This particular year, we were unable to make it home for Thanksgiving. The year was 1992. With a new venture, we were extremely busy. Unbeknownst to me, my Mother called and said, “I made your dinner and Fed Ex it. Y’all will have it tomorrow!” Oh my goodness! I couldn't believe it! When it arrived - Turkey, dressing, sweet potato pie, and pound cake - I felt like I was sitting at my Mother’s dining room table in my favorite chair eating dinner with her. We were in fact eating the same delicious food theoretically … just 1000 miles apart! That memory is one that I will always cherish. I copy my parenting style, (though I am not quite as good as her), after my Mother! An unsung hero, she was truly a diamond in the rough; an outstanding woman and an exceptional Mother. She always taught us to be thankful for our blessings! "Don't ever take people or what you have for granted," was one of her sayings. This Thanksgiving, I give thanks to so many things that God has blessed me with ... and continues to bless me! Thank you Lord! ...And thank you Momma for teaching me values, gratitude, and so much more!

Photo credit: ginny’s recipes

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

By Vernalee

As we countdown the days to Thanksgiving, I thought that I would share a story or two. We all have our holiday stories buried somewhere in our memories. Well this one places me in my hometown, Glen Allan, Mississippi about 15 years ago. Anyway, my Mother short of taking me across her knee really chastised me upon discovering that I had not taught my daughter, her namesake, the basic essentials of cooking. I remember her words to this day when she said, "It's a down right shame for a woman in our family not to know how to cook!" You see during my daughter's adolescent years, I was extremely busy balancing corporate and entrepreneurial duties that we ate out a lot! For those of you who were building careers, you know what I mean; right? So off to the drawing board, the two Phoebe's (my Mother and daughter) went! "We are going to cook Thanksgiving dinner together baby girl," my Mother told her. Excitedly, my daughter spent the next two days with her iPad writing recipes and cooking side by side with her Granny. Word spread around our diminutive city that "Little Phoebe was cooking Thanksgiving dinner." Many town folks came over to see and taste the feast. Drumroll please … Well the meal turned out perfect and my daughter has been cooking ever since...thanks to her Granny!