My grandmothers were daughters of immigrants. One grew up in a Chicago tenement; the other grew up in the coal country of Pennsylvania.
What does this have to do with me in a plastic tent? Making do.
Do you know about making do, dear reader? It’s a way of life when you don’t have what you need or want. You make do with what you have. Just ask my grandmas.
Am I saying that making do today is the same as what it was for my great-grandparents? Hardly. But the inventiveness to make do may be the same.
My son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids hosted Thanksgiving most inventively on their deck. The temperature squeaked to 50 with a nip and it could have been cold. But they made do in most remarkable ways: I had a Granny Tent! They tell me this amazing contraption is for watching soccer games. But with one old lady and one heater it is a regal Granny Tent. Add one old arthritic Jack Russell on the arthritic old lady’s lap, and a blanket around both, and you have the perfect toasty throne, the shedding of the Jack Russell not exactly an ermine cape but still a thoughtful contribution to layered warmth.
(The Jack Russell came post-dessert, needless to say. Their two dogs spent the entirety of Thanksgiving dinner making Precious Moments eyes at us. They wanted turkey but had to make do with warm laps.)
Most certainly we cannot make do when it comes to grief and human loss. But for those who tried to celebrate Thanksgiving carefully, there must have been a national make-do movement. Many made do with Zoom. Some made do with soccer tents. Therein, and not in the familiar table, lies tradition.
November 28, 2020 at 6:21 pm
Oh, Maureen – your “granny tent” is too funny! I love your photo!
November 28, 2020 at 6:37 pm
Thank you! I cannot recall when I have felt so queenly!
November 28, 2020 at 6:25 pm
I LOVE this!!!! Talk about thinking outside the box and coming up with a positive solution – this was it. Applause to your family for being so creative. Not that much creativity here, two for dinner here and five at another house. But, life goes on. I will be smiling about this photo all weekend. Please give your son and family a real attaboy from another grandma.
November 28, 2020 at 6:42 pm
Thanks, Judy! I will do that! I thought it was great. But I was thinking about you and about so many separated. There was no getting away from the very serious side of this time. I do applaud my family, though, and I was very grateful for their brilliant idea!
November 28, 2020 at 9:54 pm
They get extra points that carry over. 🙂
November 29, 2020 at 12:36 am
Without a doubt!
November 28, 2020 at 8:51 pm
Wonderful, thoughtful idea! What a great photo.:-)
November 28, 2020 at 9:37 pm
I agree: a wonderful, thoughtful idea! I will pass along your compliments to the photographer and to the design engineers! Thank you!
December 2, 2020 at 5:35 pm
Good to see your lovely smile! It’s been too long. I love the granny tent and I’m all in for “making do.”
December 2, 2020 at 7:18 pm
So good to hear from you! Yes, all in for making do — it’s an art form deserving of preservation.
December 3, 2020 at 10:38 pm
Excellent making do, especially with a lap dog for insulation. Your Granny tent irresistibly makes me imagine you as a driver in a type of train that has only just been discontinued in my part of the world called pacers. They were yellow though.
December 4, 2020 at 12:42 pm
No kidding! I love that image, and I will think of it now whenever I picture myself in the Granny Tent. Not just Queen of the Deck, but Head Engineer. I like it!