Mike Norris
23rd November 2007, 12:02 PM (12:02)
....I began to think of Thanksgivings past ( one does that sort of thing at my age ). The Thanksgiving that really stands out in my memory is the one when I was a teen ager......age 14. My mother had cooked her usual Thanksgiving feast, and we were almost ready to call the family together in order to eat it. My Dad disappeared for awhile......and we had no idea where he had gone.
Soon he returned.......and .....with him....a stranger. Not just a stranger......but a black man....looking tired....and worn....and hungry. Dad had found him out on the Interstate hitch hiking......and had brought him to our house in order to share Thanksgiving lunch with us.
Now....this was Texas......in the late 1950's.....in a little town named Vidor....known then to be one of the most racist and dangerous towns for blacks in the area. To have a white man ( or family ) invite a black person into their home was unheard of. Yet my Dad did it. And we enjoyed a great meal.......the stranger really enjoyed the meal.....and , I think , enjoyed the fellowship that an all white family shared.
When the meal was over.....Dad took the man back to the interstate.....gave him some money for food....and the man went on his way. WE never met again........it has been many , many years since that event.......but I shall never forget the kindness shown by my Father to an unknown black man on Thanksgiving Day.
Soon he returned.......and .....with him....a stranger. Not just a stranger......but a black man....looking tired....and worn....and hungry. Dad had found him out on the Interstate hitch hiking......and had brought him to our house in order to share Thanksgiving lunch with us.
Now....this was Texas......in the late 1950's.....in a little town named Vidor....known then to be one of the most racist and dangerous towns for blacks in the area. To have a white man ( or family ) invite a black person into their home was unheard of. Yet my Dad did it. And we enjoyed a great meal.......the stranger really enjoyed the meal.....and , I think , enjoyed the fellowship that an all white family shared.
When the meal was over.....Dad took the man back to the interstate.....gave him some money for food....and the man went on his way. WE never met again........it has been many , many years since that event.......but I shall never forget the kindness shown by my Father to an unknown black man on Thanksgiving Day.