Thanksgiving Dinner

Remembering back to my many Thanksgiving dinners growing up in Superior, I now realize how special they were. Aunt Lena and Aunt Freda, sisters of my father Paul, were regular attendees. Often present was my mother’s sister, Aunt Laura Koon, who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. At times, we would also have cousin, Willie Jacobs, who rode the Burlington passenger train up from Atchison, Kansas.

My mother, Myrtle Schmeling, was a gourmet cook and started preparing this special meal the night before Thanksgiving. We would start with a Jell-O salad with fruit in it, then came the main course with either turkey or ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans or green peas or corn (grown in our garden that summer and out of the freezer. If you still had room, there would be pie for dessert, usually two or three kinds–apple, cherry or pumpkin with vanilla ice cream or shipped cream on top. Then a plate of nuts. The conversation around the dinner table was always spirited and informative and all the relatives enjoyed the time together.

With the entire older generation of my family passed away, I no longer can enjoy that kind of Thanksgiving dinner, but the memories of many of them will never fade away.