Did your witness family have a 'Thanksgiving' that wasn't on Thanksgiving?

SydBarrett

My family had several elders, ministerial servants, auxillary pioneers etc, so it certainly wasn't one of those 'barely in' families. But in certain small ways, I think mine were slightly less hard line than some other families i've heard stories about over the years.

One example was the 'fall dinner'. My grandmother would host a big family dinner that was Thanksgiving in every aspect except name. We didn't have it on Thanksgiving Thursday but it was always that general time of year. Did yours do that?

The no Thanksgiving thing always seemed even more stupid than the prohibition against the other holidays. There wasn't any scripture or pagan origin that they could twist and stretch to sorta kinda make an argument for not participating. It was simply being contrary for the sake of it.

What could be more benign than taking advantage of a day that most people get off work to get together with the family for dinner? And if the JW's had allowed it, it would have been a day where JW's socialised together,strengthening their social bonds. Kinda dumb that they didn't see it that way.

Ding

I've heard some JWs say, "Jehovah's Witnesses are thankful to Jehovah every day, not just one day a year..." as if that somehow explains why setting aside a particular day for special attention is wrong.

The GB should read Romans 14 about days being a conscience matter.

3rdgen

My grandparents' wedding anniversary was at the end of November and Mom's birthday was on the same date. Every year she and her 6 siblings, their spouses, and their kids all came to my Grandparents' house for a family reunion/Thanksgiving weekend.

All were baptized JWs except the grandchildren who were still too young.

This gathering was the happiest time of every year for me. Two of my cousins were closer to me than if they were siblings. In time, since we were the 3 oldest grandchildren, we got to sit at the adult table for the feast prepared by all the women. (Years later I found out that the younger cousins resented us for having this "privilege") lol

This yearly gathering brought such joy to my otherwise rather sullen Mother and Grandparents and the rest of us that none of us wanted to give that up by leaving Watchtower.

But time went on, Grandparents died, the 4th generation arrived, my dearest cousins died, and a couple left WT. I believe our family tradition remains but I haven't been invited since I stopped attending meetings.

Biahi

We had the complete turkey dinner, every Thanksgiving Day. But, it was just our family of 3, no guests, very quiet. But, they always had to remind us, that turkey is on sale.

Beth Sarim

A whole bunch of people,,, lets say around 60 people,,,, several families.

A few families would roast turkeys,,, others bake apple or pumpkin pies.

Some would bring ice cream,,,

Others would mash potatoes,,,

Some would bring cranberry sauce,,,

A few families would make salads or coleslaw,,,,

And they would always rent some dance hall about a week after or before Thanksgiving.

road to nowhere

Aah the old turkeys on sale story. True, and a day everyone had off excuse.

It is a US national holiday linked to harvest festivals. I always wondered how householders felt about a call in tge midst of preparation.

Balaamsass2

Every Thanksgiving weekend my extended JW family had a Thanksgiving Dinner(including Elders, Gilead Grads, Ex-C.O.s.). Lots of wine, Turkey, gravy, potatoes, yams, stuffing. A real mini family reunion. Invariably one of my cousins would say "Isn't wrong to celebrate Thanksgiving? " The adults would respond "We all have the day off, Turkeys are on sale...AND Pagans didn't celebrate Thanksgiving." After a long prayer, we all dug into eat! YUM!! Pumpkin Pie and Scotch for dessert. lol :)

Gorb

Here in Holland most jw's miss a meeting because of Kings-day.

Lot of organized activity.

We visited with many jw friends the Amsterdam city center for.a.whole day of festivals.

Was accepted in the hall,.even ms.and elders were missing at the meeting

Gorby

TonusOH

These comments are very familiar! We, too, would explain that we did not celebrate Thanksgiving because "we are thankful every day." And my mother would do a full Thanksgiving dinner. I mean everything! Whole turkey that was roasting all day, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce... all of it. She, too, would claim that the foods were all on sale and it made the most sense to buy these items.

(Now, I'm sure that the turkeys were much cheaper around this time, so her rationale wasn't crazy. But the other trimmings? The mashed potatoes? The cranberry sauce? Maybe the prices were slightly lower to move the extra inventory (though not at first) but I can say for certain that the only time we ate cranberry sauce was at Thanksgiving. It was a very specific purchase.)

It was only for us (her and her children, and maybe my dad, if he managed to show up). I do wonder if there would have been any issues if the elders had gotten wind of it. My mom has always been a 100% die-hard JW, and I think that she would have been mortified if anyone in the congregation had seen the spread she laid out each year.

peacefulpete

Same here. It would be a low impact, but welcome, change for church leadership to begin 'allowing' it's people to openly gather without the pretence.

Any small steps toward normalization would work for the psychological good. Maybe the next batch of masters.

Did your witness family have a 'Thanksgiving' that wasn't on Thanksgiving?

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