Seniors: So much we can give thanks for

By SHERRY RUAIS

For the News & Messenger
Published: November 20, 2008

This coming week most of us will be celebrating Thanksgiving, which has been around since the Pilgrims arrived. I know most senior citizens remember the plays that we as kids put on depicting the Indians and the Pilgrims having a big harvest feast to show that we could all live in harmony. (We were so naive then.)

Remember those Norman Rockwell pictures in the Saturday Evening Post, the ones showing the wonderful family dinners with the whole family?

I went online to see what a typical Thanksgiving meal might have included in the Pilgrim days. It was quite different from our notion of what constitutes a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

These foods might have been on the menu: Seafood such as cod, eel, clams and lobster; and wild fowl like turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge and eagle.

Wow, fancy that—eating our national bird? Of course, it would be a few years before the eagle gained that status.

They would also eat meat such as venison and seal; grain like wheat and Indian corn; vegetables such as pumpkin, peas, beans, onions, lettuce, radishes and carrots ; fruits like plums and grapes; and nuts such as walnuts, chestnuts and acorns—I would like to know what they did with the acorns!

They used herbs and seasonings like olive oil, liverwort, leeks, dried currants and parsnips. I find it strange that parsnips were used as a seasoning.

You can see that the menu back then was quite different than what we think of as "our" Thanksgiving dinner. There was no pumpkin pie for dessert as there was no milk or sugar back then either—bummer!

I wish a wonderful Thanksgiving to one and all!

Now with the economy the way it is, there is an ever-growing number of people who will have a difficult time just having something to eat and feed their children, let alone have a big family dinner like we see in the pictures.

More and more people are joining the ranks of the homeless. This isn't meant to be a downer for your holiday, but just a gentle reminder. If you can share a portion of your good fortune with others, then it may make a huge difference in someone's life.

The following activities will take place at the Woodbridge Center:

• Monday: Lifetime Fitness, computer class, bingo, walking clu

• Tuesday: ping pong, crafts, Stand Tall, Wii, Latin music, genealogy, horseshoe

• Wednesday: TOPS, Ceramics, Tai Chi, Crochet/Knit, Pool, Pinochle, Scrabble, Texas Hold'em

• Thursday and Nov. 28: The center will be closed for Thanksgiving.

The Woodbridge Senior Center is at 13850 Church Hill Drive, Woodbridge. Call 703-494-5136.