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#Post#: 506--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: Amara Date: May 14, 2018, 12:20 pm
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Thank you, JudeCat. That's a great starting place. I am happy to
hear it would have thrilled you; that's what makes it seem so
good to me. I can't ask everyone over but I can ask at least a
couple.
Moose, I have often thought of doing that for the police
officers who may be divorced or otherwise alone and working as
well. I am just not sure how it might work, though.
#Post#: 511--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: Moose Date: May 14, 2018, 12:36 pm
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[quote author=Amara link=topic=60.msg506#msg506 date=1526318435]
Moose, I have often thought of doing that for the police
officers who may be divorced or otherwise alone and working as
well. I am just not sure how it might work, though.
[/quote]
Since I am a dispatcher, I already know several officers and my
best friend (who is an officer) actually works in the area of my
house. So I just let them know and they pass the word. But we
have had citizens call us on our non emergency line just to say
"hey let officers in the area of Main St and Center St know I
have food for them if they want it" on holidays, so you could
try that if you ever wanted to. I am sure they would appreciate
it!
#Post#: 824--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: TamJamB Date: May 15, 2018, 3:59 pm
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I have done this exact thing a few times. My husband was in the
Navy and the bases where he worked always had a program where
sailors could sign up and be matched with local families who
wanted to host somebody. We enjoyed some of our guests more
than others (service people are still people and they're going
to be a mixed bag just like any group of people), but we always
enjoyed doing it.
My husband and I both have also been on the 'guest' side of the
equation, too, when we were young sailors. Again we meshed more
with some host families than others, but it was always better
than hanging out at the barracks on Thanksgiving!
#Post#: 1116--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: Amsha Date: May 16, 2018, 12:59 pm
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I'm really sorry to hear about your mother. I think that it's a
wonderful thing, to re-orient your Thanksgiving meal and spread
it to people who would appreciate a good, home-cooked meal.
I'm former Military. I know that when I was in service, if such
an offer was made and brought to use by our Chiefs, the Chiefs
made Darn Sure that you were drilled on your Ps&Qs before you
went to this type of meal! From dress code to Thank-You's, to
pitching in to help, to letting the family set the pace. It was
understood that you were to be on your best behavior .... or
else. Granted, that was back when rocks were softer, but I
should imagine that if you go through the Base Chaplain, it
would be a similar situation.
#Post#: 1169--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: TamJamB Date: May 16, 2018, 2:55 pm
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Just keep in mind that, if you invite service people, they will
probably be very young. If your kids are old enough, they'll
have more in common with them than they will with you. These
will mostly be young people on their first tour who are still
living in the barracks, or onboard ships. By the time they've
had a year or two in they will mostly have moved off base, or at
least have friends who have their own places. At that point,
Friendsgiving will be a more attractive option for them.
My husband tells me that he had a buddy on his first ship who
ended up dating, and eventually marrying, a teenage girl he met
when having a holiday dinner with her family. This would have
been 1976 - 1977. He was 18 and she was still in high school
when they met. They got married as soon as she graduated.
Kevin actually ran into the the guy in the mid '90s and they
were still married at that time.
#Post#: 1459--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: kitty Date: May 17, 2018, 11:57 am
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Just piping in to say that I also did this once, many years ago,
and it's led to an annual tradition of Friendsgivings that I've
hosted for many years.
It started because the friend I was sharing Thanksgiving with
was dating a soldier, and he had asked if one or two of his
buddies who were far from home and sick of mess-hall chow could
also come over. We pooled resources, cooked a huge turkey and a
ham, and ended up with about five hungry soldiers mingled in
with the rest of our guests, and we had a wonderful time!
Time marched on. The base closed, I remarried and I moved a few
times, but the tradition has lingered on. Now that my parents
are both gone, Friendsgiving is more important to me than ever.
I generally seat about 12-15 people every year, and I take the
whole week off of work to prep and cook. It's the highlight of
my holiday season. :)
I've made a point of letting friends know that, if they do have
family obligations, they can escape afterwards and come by for
pie, coffee, and a few rounds of Apples to Apples to end the
holiday on a happier note. I get a LOT of those quick visits at
the end of the evening. :)
I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Sending gentle virtual
hugs, and wishing you peace.
#Post#: 1466--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: jazzgirl205 Date: May 17, 2018, 12:29 pm
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I'm sorry about your mother. I lost mine a week before
Thanksgiving 2017.
A Navy ship was always in dock for Mardi Gras. My family always
included some of the sailors in our MG festivities. I recommend
it.
#Post#: 3318--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: GardenGal Date: May 23, 2018, 5:46 pm
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I'm sorry about your mom.
My neighbors have done this for years - they invite marines from
the base which is quite nearby. Thanksgiving is my favorite
holiday of the year, and I have found that if I want more people
to attend than have RSVPd, I tell those who are come that they
can bring friend(s).
#Post#: 4284--------------------------------------------------
Re: Thanksgiving Dinner
By: MrsG Date: June 3, 2018, 2:52 pm
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I'm coming late into this thread but it's one I have quite a bit
of experience with in working with hospice. I'm very sorry to
hear about your mother. It's always hard to handle a holiday
after the loss of a loved one and I know of many families who
have done the friendsgiving thing and it worked great. Another
option is calling your local hospice bereavement services and
ask to be referred to any elderly survivors who have no support
over the holidays because their loved one has passed on and they
are completely alone. I've had a few patient families do this
as well and they built lasting supportive friendships out of
that moment of opening their home to another person who was
grieving as they were. As somebody mentioned, it's always
important to be wary of bringing strangers into one's home but
the social workers in hospice (or this could be done w/ a long
term care facility person as well) vet their possibilities for
this type of thing carefully (or they're supposed to!)
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