I remember as a child, sitting at the Thanksgiving table and listening to the adults share stories about lives and the lives of their long dead family and friends. I heard new stories and the same stories year after year and only slightly paid attention (because I was young and somewhat stupid). Now the elders in my family are all gone and their stories are only vague memories, just like a vivid dream that fades when I awake.
So this blog is to help you do a better job than I did. I was delighted to learn about the “National Day of Listening” which is the day after Thanksgiving. Story Corps, a non-profit, gives suggestions about how to collect and keep those stories. Some great questions to ask are:
•What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?
•Who was the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?
•Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did they teach you?
•Who has been the kindest to you in your life?
•What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
•What is your earliest memory?
•Are there any words of wisdom you’d like to pass along to me?
•What are you proudest of in your life?
•When in life have you felt most alone?
•How has your life been different than what you’d imagined?
•How would you like to be remembered?
•Do you have any regrets?
•What does your future hold?
•Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?
•Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?
For a “Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide” go to nationaldayoflistening.org. You will find the Instruction Guide and lots of other good questions and suggestions.
My best wishes to you for an enjoyable Thanksgiving and Holiday Season.
P.S. I am making the best apple pie I have ever tasted for desert on Thanksgiving Day! If you want to try it, here is the recipe.
Marlborough Pie*
Ingredients
•One uncooked piecrust in a 9-inch pie pan
Filling:
•1 lemon
•3 large apples, peeled
•1 c. sugar
•3 eggs
•½ cup butter
Directions
1.Heat the over to 400 Degrees F.
2.Roll out the pie dough and put in an 9-inch pie pan
Filling
•Grate the lemon peel into a bowl, taking care to avoid the white pith.
•Squeeze the lemon juice into the same bowl.
•Grate the peeled apples into the bowl and toss in the lemon juice.
•Cream the butter, add the sugar, and then add the eggs.
•Stir the butter mixture into the apples.
•Pour into the piecrust.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for least 30 minutes if you are serving it warm.
*Source: Apple Pie, an American Story, by John T. Edge. G. P. Putnam and Sons, Copyright 2004.
P.P.S. Want to Help an Idaho Wildlife Charity?
Idaho Statesman.com
November 20, 2010
“Idaho Black Bear Rehab in the running for $50,000 Pepsi grant”
Anna Webb – Idaho Statesman
The grant money would help expand enclosures for bear rehab and build an education center, say the local rehab experts who save and work with orphaned bear cubs, and prepare them for release back into the wild, at the Garden City nonprofit.
Public voting during November will determine the winners in the latest round of the “Pepsi Refresh Project.” Idaho Black Bear Rehab, IBBR, has moved into the top 90 competitors, but must earn enough votes to make the top ten in order to get the money.
To support this local organization, vote online through Nov. 30: www.refresheverything.com.
Click on the $50,000 tab to find Idaho Black Bear Rehab.
