A Pandemic Thanksgiving calls for all manner of celebratory tricks. Of course, I had spent all Wednesday afternoon, and Thanksgiving morning (beginning at 6 am) doing more cooking to prepare the feast scheduled  for 3 p.m. It seems it doesn’t seem to matter if the holiday meal is for three people or  the more routine crowd of 25. There is a lot to do. Once we got the turkey in the oven Henry and I stopped for a snack of Smoked Trout Spread, a delicious pick-me-up for which I thank my good friend, B.J. Roche.

Daughter Kate, down in Texas, was the first to call asking if we thought their  turkey would be spoiled if they cut off the legs and wings before putting the turkey in the oven. They wanted to save those parts for a sous vide meal later. Quite a bit of discussion, and we  gave our opinion that the turkey  for the table would be delicious as usual, with happy expectation of the sous vide  turkey legs later.

Daughter Betsy called to show off. She and husband Mike, are serious cooks. The creme brulee was the piece de resistance. And Turkey was out of the question. Duck was the treat. They called us several times to show the progress of a really wonderful meal. Son Rory looks stunned, but maybe he was giving thanks for a wonderful meal  with family.

Philip took a trip to Lunenberg in the morning to visit his daughter Tracy, her husband  and two beautiful granddaughters. Then back home to pick up his Thanksgiving feast, which he would be eating alone, but there were ball games to watch.

Knowing that everyone was sitting at their tables, just as we were, all giving thanks for good health and good food. We are fortunate and we are happy that our family, including an array of cousins who are scattered over the  country are equally fortunate and giving thanks.

My friend Tinky Weisblat made our Thanksgiving perfect. In addition to providing a recipe for corn casserole in Wednesday’s Recorder, she included words of President Abraham Lincoln uttered in 1863 during the Civil War when he declared the last Thursday of November to be a day of Thanksgiving and Praise.

Tinky said ” (Lincoln’s) official proclamation setting aside the fourth Thursday in November  as “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise” was written by Secretary of State William Seward. It urged Americans not just to give thanks but also to use the day to ask God to “heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

These are words to encourage us. Our pandemic days will end harmony will return.