The Thanksgiving Holiday got underway officially at the Knox Manor last night with the arrival of our firstborn from college. It was a typical entrance. Nothing was out of the ordinary. He headed for the refrigerator immediately. But unfortunately disappointment ensued. He just knew there would be some of his mother’s cowboy stew leftover in the fridge. His brothers had inhaled the last spoonful the day before. There were no Ziploc bags of cornbread on the counter either. He had hoped to walk in the door to smell the sweet aroma of his dad’s famous chocolate chip cookies, but instead he was faced with the smell of Mitchell’s tennis shoes that were left near the entryway. And then we added insult to injury.

After being forced to heat a frozen dinner, Randall asked his mother a simple question just for confirmation purposes. We are having pumpkin dump cake on Thanksgiving Day? He posed the question in a tone that sounded a little cautious, but yet hopeful. No, Jan says…Your Aunt Rena is bringing the desserts this year. The look on his face was priceless. You would have thought that his mother had told him that she was giving him up for adoption, at age 20. Pumpkin dump cake is an annual tradition. How could we break with tradition? You could tell by the look on his face that he was seriously wondering if mom and dad had been smoking crack. He proceeded to interrogate his mother regarding several other time held traditions around our household. Unfortunately he did not receive the answers he was anticipating.

Have we damaged our son for life? I am not feeling very sympathetic this morning. Jan made a last minute run to the store bright and early this morning to purchase everything needed for all of his favorites. What mothers will do for their sons! I learned two important lessons from our brief interchange last night. I think they are worth sharing.

Randall grew up enjoying all kinds of homemade delicacies, because his mother was a stay at home mom. When he was younger, he did not have the latest gaming system or the fastest computer. We had to forgo such luxuries for our kids. We were living on one income. There were no expensive vacations or elaborate birthday parties. But he grew up with his mother singing to him all day when he was a baby. She read to him all through the day during the preschool years. Now we have an adult son who is an avid reader and a great musician.

There was a smiling face to greet him after school everyday. And in the evening he was spoiled with a homemade country style meal prepared by a mom who grew up on the farm. We no longer do some of the things he inquired about last night, because she works fulltime now. Lesson learned last night: Jan staying home with the boys during their formative years was a great thing.

I find it intriguing that college age kids want to be independent. They want to do their own thing. They perceive mom and dad as being hopelessly out of touch in many areas of life. In the final analysis, they are traditionalists through and through. They still yearn to come home to the familiar. Time held family traditions becoming increasingly important as a college student matures. Lesson learned last night: Mom and dad have a responsibility to uphold the family traditions out of respect for the children. I find that to be an interesting irony of life actually.

I am looking forward to having all of my boys’ home this week. We will watch old school James Bond movies featuring Sean Connery. There will be at least one vicious game of Monopoly. Granny will go back to the boys’ rooms and listen to the hideous music on their i-pods. I will force them to watch my all time holiday favorite: Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles. But I do plan to set the timer on the oven; because I don’t want the pumpkin dump cake to burn…..It is tradition. Oh the smells and tastes of home!