Gimme Some Lovin'

Thanksgiving traditions take on a new meaning

“Gimme Gimme Some Oven.”

Seven years ago, my husband sang the oldies tune, belting out the mock lyrics in a high-pitched voice. He wiped his hands on a red-checkered apron, the same silly words Gimme Some Oven stamped across the front in bold black letters.

The 2018 calendar hung open to November—a fall wonderland of pumpkins piled in wheelbarrows and sun-faded scarecrows waving into a golden autumn sky.

Jim was in the kitchen, chopping pecans with his prized Samurai knife, keeping a watchful eye on brown sugar and butter melting in a saucepan. A homemade pie crust cooled on the windowsill, ready to be filled with his famous pecan crumble.

“Food, family, music… now that’s my kind of holiday,” he said, turning off the broiler and pulling out a tray of bubbling sweet potatoes topped with perfectly caramelized marshmallows.

“You timed that to the second!” I said, poking the yams with a fork and popping a glazed sugar puff in my mouth.

“Voila!” he tossed a chef’s kiss to the air, then framed his hands over his eyes, fingers clicking like a camera shutter. “Smile!” He wiped the sticky syrup oozing down my chin. “You know,” he grinned, “the best part of today is making a memory of you with that gooey mess all over your face.”

I think back to that day, years after Jim’s passing in 2021. Nowadays, I wrap his Gimme-Gimme apron around my waist, sharpen his old chef’s knife, and hum a familiar tune, continuing the ritual of perfectly broiled sweet potatoes. When I tilt my head toward the stove, I hear his sweet voice in the gravy, dripping with traditions that were important to him, memories that still make me smile.

There’s something about a holiday that’s focused on presence, rather than presents. Something special about making new memories with friends and family, sharing a cornucopia of gifts that aren’t wrapped with fancy bows and shiny paper.

It’s the gratitude for all that we get to keep. The memories we carry forward by replaying the backstories, the jokes, the songs—all the sweet, gooey, messy moments of the past that we bring into the present.

Somehow, it makes the holiday feel less like Thanksgiving, and more like Thanksgetting.