Thanksgiving 2020

Thanksgiving No Matter What

 

Colossians 3:17  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

 

She is so young, and of great courage, my daughter in law.  Coming into our family of many cultures, she inspires me. You see, she is English-English. In our family of Irish-American, Russian-English, German-English, American-English and a few others which my leaving out could cause an argument or two, having one passport is a novelty.

 This daughter in love has an incredible gift of valuing other cultures. She WANTS to make Thanksgiving dinner for my son and her to enjoy. She really does want to learn my grandmother’s recipes for the day. We’ve even confessed that no one really liked my mother’s turkey gravy but that we never had the courage to talk about it this side of her going to heaven. I’ve saved the recipe due to my mom ( a magazine editor) writing it out in her beautiful handwriting. It’s my moms penmanship that I cant bear to throw away. And we talk about how she beautifully organised the traditional American day of family gathering.

So, we’ve discussed topics such as how, in lockdown, we could do this celebration from home without the wider family in the kitchen, not just at the table . We have had great chats covering adaptation of recipes for two, decorating the table (autumn leaves) and sorting out Zoom for that special moment where we all look back on the year to share whatever it is for which we are thankful. Oh, and it will be on a Saturday when everyone is off work.

Her main concern though, is the food.

 “Don’t you usually head up to London to that American store to get the graham crackers for pie crust? Or canned pumpkin? What about the something-farm stuff for stuffing?”she asks.

 I’ve explained that during lockdown I will not do my annual trek to this beloved small store in Holland Park. Instead, I suggest: 

- My (English) husband will tell anyone who asks how to make a great short pastry pie crust. 

- I know just where to find pumpkin in Sainsbury’s (and then I have to confess to using Paxo stuffing for many a year). 

- Her gluten free brownies are considered the best this side of the Mississippi and have been voted our new Thanksgiving family tradition.

You see, the first celebrators of this event were actually a) British and b) from an American tribe ( As a former high school social Studies Teacher I can argue over which tribe) who just brought to the table what ever they had. Alas, no Walmart. No Williams and Samona dish set, and certainly no email to order what ever was accidentally left behind on the other side of the pond. Just a wing of turkey and a prayer.

 

Similarly this year, as many of us participate in NaNoWriMo we are given pep talks that encourage us to take what we have and bring it to the writing desk. We may not have a personal recipe for a best selling novel, but we’re doing our best. Just write. Don’t go big (if at all) on the edit. 

 In the process we learn a little more about who we are around this ACW table of writers. We learn what we’ve got when we can’t go out much.We learn what we have to hand. We have “suddenly aware moments” when a story just comes to us. We can decide to give thanks for the stories and for character development, a bit of a plot here and there.

We learn that our offerings may not be perfect or traditional genre or just like mama would have made ( or in my case would have edited) but we are thankful for connection, for encouragement, for the developing or adapting of our voice right where we are today.

Thanksgiving and writing are inexorably connected. May we connect however we may, just bringing what we have. May we give thanks- no matter what.

Prayer from verses found in the 16th century Dutch Hymn: We Gather Together 

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing. He chastens and hastens His will to make known. So from the beginning His fight we were winning. Thou, Lord wast at our side; the glory be Thine.,

So, in Your mercy, may we bring what we have to the table as we gather in small groups (Hooray for the new ACW email Group Number 3!), or on our Facebook pages or as we email or direct message each other. May we offer what we have in the way of writing to Your service as you establish the work of our hands. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

Kathleen McAnear Smith has written three factual books ( one on relocation, one on whole-family recovery, and one on the history of Elle Ministry’s Pierrepont Training Centre). She is now writing her very first novel, and is in a wonderful bubble with her young London grandsons. She is missing her Italian grandson. If you see her sneaking into Italy, you need to report her.