How
Thanksgiving has changed for me
11/8/10
By Adam Gentry
When I was young Thanksgiving was
like a performance, if you were not part of the cast and crew you were banned
from the stage until curtain call. The crew were busy cutting, cooking, and
mixing, and the head of the table chose and practiced his lines, and then the
bell rang and everyone tried to get a good seat, only to discover some were
reserved. A few brief words of piety while the children silently waited, and
then plates were passed and piled with food. There was never enough of the best
dishes, but everyone got at least a few mouthfuls before one ambitious eater
called for seconds. As I got older it became more apparent that the same two
people accepted the most arduous tasks, sometimes cajoling volunteers to help,
but rarely the same people. Eventually I ended up in the kitchen, hoping to
learn the secrets, and put on my own performance out of season. And I learned,
and helped.
The table didn’t change much. The best
seats are held in reserve for life. Even as my brother approaches 30, all the “kids”
sit at the tail end, at a tacked on card table. But my brother puts on a good
show, telling stories from the past few years, stories he never tells when the
adults are in ear shot. So while the parents quietly chew, we loudly laugh.
