Thanksgiving on the Ponderosa

By Tennessee

Thanksgiving was coming up. Ben knew it would be sad for his family. Marie always made a great Thanksgiving dinner, one that they looked forward to for many weeks. She cooked the whole day before, and she loved Thanksgiving.

Ben knew the boys were not looking forward to Thanksgiving, so one night he brought up the topic, "Thanksgiving is coming up. I was thinking that we should have a big dinner and ask all of our friend to come."

Adam said, "That’s fine with me." So did Hoss.

Little Joe looked at them all. "How can you want to have a big Thanksgiving without Ma?"

Ben said, "Son, I know this is hard, but we need to get on with our lives, son."

Adam said, "Ma would want us to have Thanksgiving, Little Joe."

With tears in his eyes, Little Joe said, "I don’t want to have a big Thanksgiving dinner." He ran out of the house.

Ben said, "Maybe we should have a small Thanksgiving celebration. Just us."

"I think we should have the big dinner with our friends," said Adam. "Ma would have liked something like that."

As November grew colder and Thanksgiving approached, Ben asked the Goodmans, the Greens, Eli, Ruth, Big Dan, and Shelby to come to the Ponderosa for dinner. Ben knew he had to tell Little Joe what they were planning. He told the boys that night, "Everyone is coming to Thanksgiving dinner."

Adam and Hoss looked pleased, but Joe didn’t even look up from his plate. He kept eating. After supper, he said, "Pa, you all can have Thanksgiving dinner but me. I will not be here."

Ben saw the familiar tears come into Little Joe’s eyes. He asked Adam and Hoss not to say anything about Thanksgiving to Little Joe.

Hop Sing cooked all day that day before Thanksgiving: wild turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The Greens also brought turkey and more stuffing. The Goodmans brought pies and sugar cookies. Eli and Ruth made a ham and a cake.

On Thanksgiving day everyone except Little Joe got up early at the Ponderosa. Joe stayed in bed. He was so unhappy when he got up that he just ran out the door without a word to anybody. He got on his horse and left.

Joe rode a long time, thinking about his Ma and the Thanksgivings they’d had when she was alive. He rode to her grave and got off his horse. He cried as he thought of her.

Back at the Ponderosa, Adam said, "Pa, we need to go find Little Joe."

Ben said, "I know where he is."

"He went to Ma’s grave, didn’t he, Pa?" said Hoss.

Ben nodded. "Right, son. He needs some time alone."

Everyone arrived for dinner. Ben kept looking toward the door, waiting for Little Joe to return.

Little Joe fell asleep next to Marie’s grave. Adam and Hoss went outside to get their horses. Their little brother had been gone a long time. They didn’t tell Ben they were going, but they rode silently to the lake, where they found Joe sleeping next to Marie’s grave.

Adam said, "Hoss, why don’t you carry him?"

Joe awoke then. "What are you two doing here?"

"We all miss Ma, little brother. It’s hard on all of us. But we know she’d want us to go on with our lives."

Adam said, "It’s hard on Pa, too, Joe. Let’s go home so we can celebrate this day."

They got on their horses and went back to the Ponderosa. When they got there, all the guests had arrived and everyone was at the table getting ready to eat. Ben smiled at them, and they sat down at the table.

Ben said, "My sons and I are so happy to have all our friends here for Thanksgiving dinner. We are thankful for all of you. Thanksgiving is hard on us without Marie, but it helps to know we are surrounded by friends. Now, let’s all eat!"

They all ate and had a great time. Little Joe said, "Pa, can I say something?"

"Sure, son."

"Today started out as a sad day. I miss my ma. She used to love to cook on Thanksgiving. We had a great time as a family. We used to go around and tell what we were thankful for, and Ma would always say she was thankful for all of us." Joe brushed away a tear. "I’m thankful for my pa, my brothers, and my good friends."

Ben got up and hugged Little Joe. Joe said, "Pa, I’m sorry I got mad at you for wanting to have this dinner."

"That’s all right, son. I know you miss Marie. But she’s in all our hearts, Little Joe."

"That’s for sure, Pa. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!"

Everyone helped clean up and when they went home they thanked Ben and the boys for the great day.

Ben asked the boys if they’d had a good Thanksgiving, and they all smiled and said they had.

"I had a great Thanksgiving with all our friends," said Little Joe.

They went to bed and all of them were reflecting on past Thanksgivings as they drifted off to sleep.

The End.