Parenting
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport

Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 11-28-99
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 1999

"Memories Are Treasures"

For many of us, this Thanksgiving week was family.

For some, that is a positive statement. It means seeing people we love after long separations, eating luxuriously, not going to work, getting out the good china, or maybe it just means football.

For others, it represents discomfort. Uncle George as usual said cruel things. Dad was not with us for the first time. Mimi never let anyone forget that she did most of the work and is unappreciated. The cousins squabbled. There was no wine served, and that was regretful; or there was wine served, and that was regretful.

Whichever way our Thanksgiving might have gone, it still represented family and gave us memories.

I remember:

When our newly adopted tom cat pulled the turkey off the counter and drag it behind the sofa.
When my grandmother was not at the table for the first time.
When I cooked my first turkey, and it was not even close to being done. Everyone politely waited while it cooked another two hours.
When one of our grown children was not at the table for the first time.
When my three year old nephew looked at the cooling turkey and asked, "Who is that?"
When my dad was not at the table for the first time.
When once and only once, my grandmother served duck instead of turkey "just for a change."
When in the 50's it was almost 100 degrees, and we had no a/c.
When we went to the football game instead.
When in the 60's, a college age guest was "stoned," slept sitting up through the whole meal, and everyone pretended they didn't notice.
When my mother was at the table for the last time.

I think of my family memories as treasures even if some are embarrassing or painful or regrettable. I wouldn't give one of them away. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

I need the help of my readers who are parents of children with disabilities. I am writing an article on the wonderful things grandparents ( or grandparent- figures) said to you or did for you when you first learned that your child had disabilities.

Please pass this valuable information on to me by email at ndavenport@ticnet.com or write me at the newspaper P.O. Box. Thanks. Nancy

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Nancy Lambert Davenport
EMAIL: ndavenport@ticnet.com
URL: http://www.nancyldavenport.com