Holiday traditions come and go, but there seem to be some that hang on for a lifetime if not longer. With Thanksgiving just a short time off, food preparations are already being made or shopped for. We can almost envision grandma rolling out pie dough or making fresh baked goods. The old potbellied stove in her kitchen had seen better days and so had she, but she continued until she could no longer make her way from her chair to the kitchen. An oversized roasting pan would be prepared for the Thanksgiving turkey, usually shot by one of the boys in her large family. Or she might kill a couple chickens the day before to fill with mouthwatering stuffing. Vegetables canned in August would be brought up from the fruit cellar. Mountains of potatoes would be peeled by hand the night before. Efficiency would have to be maintained, or Grandma would spend the entire holiday in the kitchen. She would ask for side dishes and desserts to be provided by extended family. Then the fine China would be inspected, washed and set on a formal dining room table which has been covered with a linen tablecloth. Forks on the left and knife and spoons on the right. Her mother’s lovely somewhat chipped crystal glassware would accompany each place setting.

Today, most of that is forgotten. Maybe it came during the women’s rights movement. Who wants to spend half of the holiday preparing the humongous meal, setting a gorgeous table, timing everything so that it’s all hot when everyone sits down; and the other half of the day requires putting leftovers into containers for future meals and washing a mountain of dirty dishes. Maybe it was a rebellion of sorts on the part of those already overworked women. Whatever the case, the revolution turned into a completely downsized version of what once was.

Today you can order your entire meal and have it delivered to your home. Many grocery chains are offering this. Or you can order from a fancy restaurant and have Door Dash show up with everything necessary to impress your family and friends. Forget about the China and crystal. Plastic plates, eating utensils and paper cups will suffice. When it comes to doing the dishes, all you need is a large plastic garbage bag. You don’t even have to make a huge meal. Personally, I like the idea of simplicity and more conversation, rather than trying to figure out which fork to use or having a heated political debate at the dinner table. Anyway, those old traditions become unnecessary until the next generation decides they would like to entertain like they did in the old days.

Football seems to be the fare beyond the meal. While men are watching fifteen college games simultaneously on TV, the women are searching the newspaper ads for Black Friday bargains. In the old days, they would be doing the dishes. Now they don’t have to. Instead, they have the ability to go out the next day and spend hundreds of dollars on items that no one really wants or needs, just to say they got an amazing deal. Do I sound facetious or sarcastic? Good, because that’s my intention,

When we get together to celebrate a holiday like Thanksgiving, our first thought should be being grateful. Every day is one to celebrate when you’re in your 80s. It’s also a time to honor family, relationships, marriage, all of God’s exceptional blessings in addition to the everyday blessing of provision. Maybe it’s time to start some new traditions. Like filling a jar with comments on what you’re thankful for. At the end of the celebration or even at the beginning, read those comments and talk about them before reaching for your cell phone or remote. You might be surprised what a great conversation you can start. We really need to work on that. We might even discover that we like each other -a lot.