Show Thanks thanksgiving givin dinner 11 7 i 1 0 ap 4 two 7 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 yesteryears feast days Q ty tAU LAURETTA RUITA JOY in aw PW ES father it went off ill III right but it like our when the children were borne and mother and grand p and mother bell winked back a sentimental tear there were wen only two of them at the upper supper table with its dab dabs of cold chicken and pork cranberry sauce celery nuts cuts cold quash squash and all sit the orthodox remnants of the teat gnat american feast the no four children and twelve grandchildren had been lea leaster and feted in the old home and had gone on their way rejoicing after the girls had helped mother do up the work the house where torn tom and bob and buth and alice had been born where they had been bow fed and kissed and panted spanked where when they had scrapped and land made op up and manifested the first sparks of the genius within them wax was very still tee yes mother it like uko the old thanksgivings aid said the man with most of the perkiness ness of youth gone cono and they the wen wem silent together the mother was wits remembering those long lonano ago year yean when a home full fuu of childish joy in thanksgiving or any holiday give it a freshness and vigor that had dulled in later years she remembered ic the arm house wrapped in winter snows scows bubbling over ath with the zestful enthusiasm of childhood first of all there then was their been keen joy in the distant vague preparations for the holiday she could see toms grin when she sent hint to the store for raisins and citron 0 C and almonds and the miles smile of all of them aben the bif big rich cake as put in the old brown crock there then was the that day when ruth and bob came home with their op piece loces to peak speak in school the day before thanksgiving and joyfully revealed aled that teacher had told them what they had known all along school would close on wednesday night and they have to come back until monday aad and then aba their watchful fearful waiting for the first snowflakes inow flakes aad and tom ettina out his coaster and ind paint lug the nin runner ars and abuce and ruth going 1 to the wood woods for bittersweet and partridge berries and spray of ever green and decorating the mantel aad a windows and archways arch ways and and then th ha day before when father killed aid dressed the chicken chickens or turkey ar r duck and what a hurry burry and bosn there tharle was of baem thellis rj ing and boiling and how golden 14 t big kitchen kitchin was with the winter sua gull glancing through the thi maple maples outtalk outs lla and how warm it W wu with the b bl 14 oven sending out wates waves of and the tho odor of baking pie cake and cookies cookie and then the great reat day itself no need to call ber her breed brood that day for BOW had bad come la in the rubt and the th boy boys bad risen with the fiery flary red win ter aun sun to try out the aled sled before breakfast anil and bad come in all cold and roay rogy to gulp down pancakes and simp and cm tat and bacon aad aid then bo no matter bow treat the feast nor how bow much remained to be done the six of then them were dressed in sunday bet beat and the family trailed trilled down awn the white street to church neighbor neighbors on the way WILY a ehat chatam asidao whether it wa was a it turkey or a chicken bill of fare this time growing soberer u a they trailed into the little white church and down to the pew pow that hla held the six of them each sabbath and then the triumphant hymns anil and from the choir the permon nf of plenty from the cintr ant the allow winter inter sun though tile lie stained win down do x the bent diction the moment af f list and nil good will from neighbor to neighbor a little herd gilded down don th the 41 steps where they burnt from church so briet into the puppy spirit demanded by a LOIL nappy snappy day home again and the lat last scramble tor for the feast the girt girls setting the table with uie the bet best linen silver and china nith ith a bowl of tiny yellow chrysanthemums from the backyard buh bush the trip trips down don cellar for a can of reuth relish tiny firca pickle pickles ome some chill sauce strawberries atran stra berries and the squash and carrot carrots and turnip turnips and potatoes pot atoe and onions each with if its part to play in the feast the turkey or duck stuffed with spicy dressing was wa crackling away in the oven father wai was out in the garden exhuming ome some celery put to bleach for the occasion occa elon a it month or ao so ago the boy boys were cracking nut cuts and pol lining applet apples bow sweet it wa was to do her work in her own place DISC tor for thoe moms who needed and ind enjoyed this thi work bow icrene serene and lure sure and sad peaceful it all ali seemed teemed looking back over thoe those yeara years all the doubt doubts and torment torments of later year years seemed impossible how ilow had it come about what had ufa life done to her to then them her friend friends neighbor neighbors thought that life had used her kindly death had bad never knocked at the door of her fold sick neu mesa had bad been almost unknown in the eye eyes of the world her children had turned out well tom wa was councilman in a big city and a prominent business bu alnes attorney he bad had married a nice giri girl and oo 00 one could ak ask for prettier better mannered grandchildren than thi this family had given her alice bad had married a physician and wa was prominent socially and in club work mother and ind father bell rarely picked up a sunday paper without seeing a picture of ura mrs john graham grahim or one or other of the attle graham grahamm who were included among those prominent in the juvenile eel vel bob was a it successful merchant and active in furthering employee welfare work ruth had never married but waa was more than successful in a home decorator she traveled all ahe she wanted to dressed beautifully maintained a charming apartment apartments wai was invited to the homes of those whom the world call calls great no there wa was not one at of her children who had bad not done weir well or was wa anything but ft a credit to the parent parents and yet yeti why did ft a mother hunger 0 so o even if her children were all that she eb had ever hoped bow for them why mut most heartache heartaches and loneliness lonell nes be the pric price to pay tor for thi this very why did toch much ft a enee sense of baffled clement fill all her at the thanksgiving table why did their coming not lat sit lanyi why did this thi longing for the other day days persist in salting her ah she knew know the anwer answer knew that their very success acce uc ce their very bomea homes their very children meant meat that her bet work wa was done it wa was but ft a ault of ft a day and IS auch such had no faint ct tat connection with the yesteryear feast day days which meant one homo hom one inter et one working and playing niche for all sh she and their father and their home mad made bp up their groove then to daj day they are ar mak ing those grooves for other others find and finding their own therein there are thousands of father fathers and mothers the country over who find and only poignant find and even in ft I of 0 the th feast day days which were wen ao 80 joyful to in day days gone cone by the winter ua till still stream through th the backyard maples late the big kitchen the same old range bakes bake the turkey find and squash and nd mine cf and pumpkin pie pies tor for the ame name old brood the game same china think and aliver slid nd bet best tablecloth may be upon the dining room tabi table but ir ing Is 1 abot what it was wa eten even if letb the aam tw with no break f in the ranks v in grouped bout about the table I 1 U t 12 1 all 11 different now they an guests t in the tb place where they common worker they in jaro bomi that garc gave them th bulb 1048 if bold hold no other job tor for then them orth forth to the tt w orid ii IN tb that file aus the lonely hearts of many it mother tad and father bell ii is there tiny ny balm for these parent pai who feel that lifes twilight must be pent spent with folded hands bands thinking of the active life that Is averi over or Is it th the old story of t paying the price for everything which one attains in 7 I 1 think not nol I 1 think if its a matter of perverted viewpoint in the first place parents who conclude that their life lifee i work Is I 1 over jut just becane their children are town grown end and away a w my from home are onar writing their own doom tife Is not title static it Is ever flow ine ing the water goes on ner over the mill wheel and he who seeks to hold it back will be able to scoop up only a pall or so 0 o and keep it until it grows scummy many parents are like this the waters of their own yes flow on deeply and smoothly and when a stretch of clear sparkling limpid wa ter which means a phase of living especially dear to them comes ilone along the uie parents scoop it up and seek to hold it forgetting that the mill mul Is soi solag lag ing on just the same parenthood Is an in essentially dear phase of living to most people nature has a vital reason for this but she does her job too weil well one Is inclined to think that if she had created a man or woman so 86 that child rearing would be the CM one job they craved during toe j days of their youth but would eo so make then them that they would crave emre another job when the children were grown and going about their own job of parenthood the old dame would have don done a better job then nen too its a human trait to remember the fair and shining 1411 ning side of things that aro re gone and hence to repine for them to go to back to the bell family ruth the single damsel glimpsed her par ants mood to the full and discussed it ith her sister like this think to hear bear mother rave that she wr was supremely happy when we were ere all home and sometimes it makes me furious when I 1 distinctly recall how she the fussed and worried and stewed around about one thing and itt an iother in 14 the world the money for our winter underclothes was coming from how ouch much schoolbooks cost what in it the world she he I 1 bould do with bobs bad temper and ton toms lying and ind my iny vanity and your craziness after the boys and many a time the he made her moon about how bow overworked and thankless her life was dad and would th tb time aeder corn COMO when she had a chance to rest and get a little placer and if mother and end pa ther bell live to be eighty will look back black upon their quiet life peaceful pere tio together now as the beet bw of their days and at t one hundred they the would regard the day ef of eighty u altogether desirable dext rable if thanksgiving does nothing alag 1 for us may it bulcken our vision of tb the glories of the present I 1 |