THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511180338
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Today is Thanksgiving, a day to remember and celebrate family and friends.
I always give thanks for the childhood memories of Thanksgivings past, the memories that never fail to warm my heart and mist my eyes.
Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' home always was a feast - not only of food but of family stories. Many times there were two tables or more, but the children never got stuck back in the breakfast room away from the grownups. We always were full participants in the rituals that are Thanksgiving. For that I am very thankful.
In that house I was a fourth generation at the table, fascinated by the stories told by the elders.
Over the years, the makeup of the holiday table has changed but always there have been several generations.
Now, my nephews have grown up. One is a 35-year-old host for our Thanksgiving gatherings and his teenage daughter is a fourth generation participant. I feel sorry for kids who do not have warm memories of family, and I am so glad my nephew and his wife picked up on Thanksgiving dinner since my mother had to give up on it. His daughter and her cousins will remember it many years from now.
But there are other ``families'' to remember too.
Back in the 1950s, when newspaper people often worked right through holidays, there were times when I didn't get home for Thanksgiving. But they too are times I treasure. One newspaper friend and I always worked Thanksgiving day and shared midday turkey dinners at the elaborate old S&W Cafeteria in downtown Raleigh. Then, when we got the paper to bed, we'd cook a pot of split-pea soup to share with others from the newspaper staff.
In many ways, newspaper colleagues were very much family back in those days. We worked longer hours than we do now and we alternately worked holidays and weekends as a matter of course, taking time off on other days. So we spent much special time together, solving the world's problems. We also laughed a lot together.
But newspaper employees were hardly the only Thanksgiving orphans those days.
Among the ``families'' I remember are the service men who would share Thanksgiving or Christmas - or just plain old Sunday dinner with us. During World War II, Edenton had more Marines than its population and Elizabeth City was running over with Navy and Coast Guard personnel.
It was not unusual for people to invite military folks for a meal. The same was true here and in every town that was packed with young kids far from home and headed for danger.
But even in the years immediately after World War II, people continued to entertain service personnel. However, the practice is not as prevalent now.
Yet, right here in Portsmouth this week there are many fine young people far from home. Many of the youngest do not have families with whom to share the season.
Sometimes people think young folks are not interested, and some of them are not. Others have no idea of how to find those who would like to know people in the community and enjoy a good home-cooked meal.
In every group of young people, there are those who do not want to spend all their spare time in bars or just hanging out. Many would welcome a change of scenery - and a change of cuisine.
Maybe some organization in Portsmouth could make a project of organizing a sort of feed-a-sailor program aimed at working with the ships that are tied up in the shipyard.
Frequently, crews from the ships take on projects in the community. Usually, there is an official thank-you party or meal. But that's not the same as individuals asking some of them to a home-cooked meal.
The fact that so many of the sailors participate in these projects underlines the need for more interaction between the Navy and the community. Some of the Navy personnel really do need to relate to somebody in addition to their shipmates.
We might also consider getting to know some of the young, single hospital corpsmen at the Naval Hospital. For those who live on the base, a home-cooked meal might be a real treat.
And the more people the military personnel get to know, the better their lasting opinion of Portsmouth will be. by CNB