Thanksgiving

The first thing you would here is Dad telling Mom how she should cook the turkey, then you would hear her say shut up , I know what I'm doing. Both parents had loud voices, so we never got to sleep late in the Vagnozzi houshold.
Thanksgiving was a family day, a time to give thanks for the little we had. Monetary wise we were no where near rich, not even upper middle class. We were rich in family and that is something money can't buy.
The day would start with the smell of coffee. Breakfast would always be the cakes and cookies my sister would bring home from the bakery where she worked. I loved the cream donuts, my younger brother the jelly. After we had breakfast, my older brother would take us to the St. Tommie More vs. Overbrook football game. It was usually the ony game STM would win all year.
I sat in the stands watching the game, dreaming of the day I could play for St. Tommie. My younger brother would be off playing under the stands and running around. When the game was over we would head home, knowing that Mom was working in the kitchen preparing the holiday feast. You could smell
the different flavors from a block away. Our mouths would start watering.
My Father liked to eat dinner early, usually around 2:p.m. We didn't mind because when you eat early, you get to eat again later. We always had some homemade soup to start, usually Scrippels. They were sort of a long stuffed shell
cooked in a chicken broth, sprinkled with cheese. Delicious! Next came the pasta, either ravioli or manicotti or lasagna. Delicious! Then we had a large bowl of salad. Then the turkey would come out with all the fixings. Cranberry sauce, stuffing, couple of different vegetables, a small dish of spaghetti for Dad, he didn't eat veggies.
After all that we had dessert, coffee with annisette, or sambuca, homemade
peach or pear cake, pumpkin pie, or coconut custard, and of course Mom's homemade cookies. We ate like we were going to the electric chair.
Those Thanksgiving dinners were truly some wonderful times for me and I have so many memories of them. We argued and laughed with each other, five brothers and sisters and their parents. Every once in a while, I miss that closeness we all shared. It was Thanksgiving at the Vagnozzi's, and you could hear it from a block away.