Thanksgiving Then In About 1944 And Now And Heart Shaped Cakes Like You Baked

I use to think my Dad was from the Middle Ages since he was 14 years older than Mom. Then when I got married, I realized he was quite modern for his age. He was wise, smart, caring and thoughtful. He was always giving of himself and gave us kids all he could afford

When he got engaged to Mom, he took her on an overnight trip to Niagara Falls and when she told me about it when I asked her about her wedding and honeymoon, she told me about the trip. I said "Mom you went with Dad overnight?" She said " we had separate rooms."

I saw Dad in photos of him with some girls, one was his sister and the other two were friends. He was dressed in his stylish bathing suit for those days, all one piece. He looked so handsome and quite dapper for then.

When I get a bit more computer savvy, I will transfer on here his young days picture all dressed up in a suit and tie and so good looking.

When I was about 8 he had gone to a grocery store called Food Fair and when he emptied the groceries out, there was a small hard cover/soft cover book all about penguins and he said to me this is for your my darling child.

Oh how happy he made me, I had a few books and loved them so. I have them with me on bookshelves and though they are faded some, they are still Best Sellers to me. He always said how beautiful I was with my high cheek bones and now you know how right he was.

My brother who was 5 years older than me got comic books and toy soldiers.

Little things meant so much to me, no ipods, cell phones, or computers. We were happy with what we had and we loved our parents with a special love kids have for them. His initials were JB and some called him that and others called him Joe. Now I think of him and he is gone 52 years and I think of him as Just Best

Today, is Thanksgiving and I think of how he carved the turkey Mom had made. There were no electric knife cutters that make turkey carving so much easier. He loved the dark meat and my brother and I liked the white meat. Mom ate the dark parts along with Dad. No waste of food in those days, all the meat was eaten.

Mom baked several pies, baking was her specialty. No store bought pies or cakes. Mom baked from scratch and we kids licked the cake bowls. Now they tell everyone, no licking the bowl, it is not safe to eat uneaten dough batter.

Mom could have won a prize for her chocolate two layer cake topped with chocolate icing. She had bought heart shaped baking pans and all her cakes were heart shaped. One cousin had been in the hospital for a few weeks and when she returned home, Mom asked her what she wanted and she said she yearned for her own Aunt Lea's cake.