Our Last Lehman Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day dawned a dreary, rainy day this year. A prelude to the day to come for me.

I started the day not feeling well; pneumonia is trying to sink it's ugly fangs into me, and I'm fighting it with guns blazing. As we cooked and cleaned, my brother came to the house for a minute; Dad wanted his coffee warmed up. I could see something was bothering my brother, and I called him on it. "What's wrong?" I asked. He shook his head, sadly, and didn't want to say anything. "No, you can't do that to me, you have to tell me now!" I fussed at him. After a little bit more back and forth, Ricky knew I wasn't going to let it go (I have a knack for that; dog with a bone mentality a lot of times. Not something to be proud of all the time, but whatever.)

He then told me that our Dad had made the decision that this year was to be the last year that he hosted Thanksgiving. After 40 years, he's tired. Daddy is one of 8 children (he's #6). His older sister, Viola, passed away in 2012. His other sisters and his youngest brother are all ill and were not able to come. So, out of 8 children, there were only 4 brothers there.

Dinner time



Two of my many cousins

Oh, how it tore my heart to hear my Daddy cry. He loves doing the Thanksgiving pig, but he's sad that his brother and sisters couldn't be there. And he's tired. He'll tell you "I'm not a spring chicken anymore!", but in my eyes, he'll always be my Daddy. The Man of Steel. He's been through a lot in his 68 years. More than most, and has come out a better man each time.

Man of Steel

But it still hurts to see your Daddy slow down.

There have been rumblings of "well, Tina, you should take up the mantle and keep this tradition going!", and there would be nothing that would make me happier. I have other family obligations, too, though. Every other year, we go with my husband's family to western Maryland to a ski resort town for Thanksgiving. I can't just stop that. Plus, this girl has no idea how to cook a pig. None. Well, I know you put it on the cooker, but I've never DONE it before!

So for now, the Thanksgiving tradition is done. For now. I have a feeling, though, that we haven't seen the last of this annual, appetizing food-fest!!

The main course

A frozen four year old



A stuffed to the gills ten year old!

Thanksgiving Blessings

As I sit here in my warm, cozy house, there is a nor'easter blowing outside. A monster storm is blowing all the way up the east coast, bringing only rain and maybe some sleet mix overnight here, but a bunch of snow further inland.



A picture from my Father-in-law from this morning. This is where we go when we're with my husband's family for Thanksgiving. Praising God for His protective hand as they drove there today!

 

We are staying home and celebrating Thanksgiving with my family this year. I have a large family; my father is one of 8 children (he's #6, so one of the younger ones), I have 22 first cousins, and since I'm the second youngest of those, I have more cousins than I can actually count. Maybe one day I should sit down and actually count them! I know that when I married my love almost 16 years ago, there were 33 great-grandchildren. Wow. There are great-GREAT-grandchildren now!

Large family in mind, when I was young, we didn't have your normal Thanksgiving feast. No, not us. The first time I ever had turkey on Thanksgiving was when I was newly married and celebrated with my husband's family. What did we have? Well, remember, I live on a farm. (I'll tell you more about that in another post.) We have, since I was a baby, had barbeque for Thanksgiving. When I was young, we actually parked the pig cooker and a flatbed in the woods, everyone brought a dish and dinner time began at or about 1pm. (Remember, cows have to be milked twice a day, and at that time it was 4am and 4pm. We had to be done in time for milking!) Nowadays, we usually park the cooker and flatbed in a barn, place hay bales all around (if you want to bring a chair, go right ahead!) and eat there. This year, I think we will be in a more covered barn, because of all the rain we've had the last couple of days, and it's going to be cold.

My paternal grandparents have gone to Glory (Grandma in 1996 and Grandpa in 2001), and my dear Aunt went home to meet them in 2013 (Dad's older sister).

Me and my Aunt Viola, Thanksgiving Day 2012
 

Usually we have about 70 people here, and it has, in the past, gotten close to 100 people! This year, it looks like it's going to be a smaller year, because of sickness and families kind of splitting off to do their own things. Makes me a little sad, really. I'm only here for Thanksgiving every other year, so I'll miss them. We'll have the big family Christmas Dinner next month, though.


We tend to invite more than just family, too. There was the year that my best friend and her family didn't travel, so they came here and dined while sitting on fine hay bales. Another year, a family that we were in a life group with had their oldest daughter off at college, and it was too far away for her to come home. They decided to come to our Thanksgiving, and loved it!! I have to admit, it's pretty fun!

I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Please, take the time to sit and reflect about all that you have to be thankful for. Despite life's struggles, we can always find at least one thing, right?

What is it that you are most thankful for this year? Let me know! I'd love to hear from you.

Hello Again!

Well hello there, everyone!

Um, again?

Yes, yes. I used to have a different blog, but I'm re-purposing it. I want to encompass the entirety that is my life. From growing in my faith more and more every day to rough-and-tumble boys (one that is right this minute in danger of discipline because he won't obey his father...oops...there it goes...), to trying to live on a budget that is smaller than it used to be.

So welcome to "Pokeberry Boys and More of Life's Joys"!

Why "pokeberry" you may ask? Well, if you'd seen what my boys did this summer with some pokeberry weed berries, you'd understand. My father is the one that *ahem* introduced my boys to the joys of pokeberries. Yeah, see the purple on his face?

 The fact that yes, they are poisonous if eaten, but wonderful to color your hands and face lovely shades of purple right before we pack the car for a trip out of town!

I'll be sharing fun stories, anecdotes, and just plain L-I-F-E from here on the farm.

Wanna join the wild ride?