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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Folgers® . The opinions and text are all mine.
“This post has been sponsored by the J.M. Smucker Company. I received product and compensation, but all opinions are my own.”
When I was younger, my mom would spend all day getting ready for Thanksgiving, while my brother and I made place cards and prepared to be the “waiter & waitress” for the day. I loved getting out my pencil and paper to write down if they wanted pumpkin or apple pie, coffee or tea. It was one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. I loved watching our relatives come over and sit to just talk for hours on end, watching the Steelers on TV.
Now that we have our own family, I’m the one drinking the coffee and eating the pie while our kids run around, laughing, taking our orders in their aprons complete with a pencil behind the ear.
This holiday season, I’m sharing StoryCorps and the Great Thanksgiving Listen program to encourage families to share their memories, traditions, and stories and reconnect over a cup of coffee. It’s so simple to share your stories and memories with your loved ones. Grab a cup of to sit down at the table and talk, one cup at a time.
If I could go back in time, I would have recorded my grandma telling me her stories. I loved each one of them so much, but I didn’t want to embarrass her by recording her stories. Now that she’s gone, it’s one of my biggest regrets.
I remember one time, sitting with her at her house on Hilton Head Island, I started to clean the kitchen after dinner. She said “Just sit with me. Cleaning can wait.” She always said this (don’t get me wrong – her house was clean, but her family was more important). She poured each of us a cup of Folgers® coffee and she told me a story about when she was a teenager.
My grandma, Rose, had two other sisters: Alice & JoAnn. One day, the doorbell rang and a delivery man was there with flowers. The three sisters stood there looking at him when their mother, Elizabeth, asked who they were for.
“Rosemary Abbott”, he said.
My grandma said that when she found out that my grandfather, Guy, had sent them to her, she was over the moon. I can only imagine. She was the most grateful person that I have ever met (which is why I think my mom & Aunt are the same way). To know that he had taken the time to send her flowers had to have made her feel like a queen.
I love that story because my grandfather was a man of few words, but his actions spoke louder than words and this was just a little way for him to show her how he cared about her.
I just want to remind you to take the time, this Thanksgiving, and sit with someone. I like to get out a few coffee mugs ahead of time and have them ready. It sends the message of “I was waiting for you to come. Do you want to sit down for a few minutes?” The stories will follow…
This Thanksgiving, Give Thanks for your family & your friends. Take the time to talk to them, to reconnect. Be grateful for them.
Remember that it is about the PEOPLE not the things. Dinner doesn’t have to be perfect. The house doesn’t have to look perfect. The kids don’t have to behave perfectly. Those things make the holidays stressful. Don’t let the pressure of hosting family or cooking the perfect holiday meal overwhelm you. Take time to slow down and share stories over a cup of coffee. It’s is a good way to reflect on what’s most important – your family and friends.
Every relationship is filled with stories, and Folgers® wants to reunite loved ones over coffee. To share your memories and traditions, visit to tell us who you want to reconnect with, for a chance to win a real-life reunion.
