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Bob and Susan
Serving Thanksgiving - Farmingdale Church |
OUR THANKSGIVING HEART
BY SUSAN MARIE DAVNIERO
PUBLISHED LONG STORY SHORT
Seeking to find our Thanksgiving heart
One Thanksgiving Day, we took our part
Volunteering to join the serving line
At the pantry for the needy to dine
The table is set with a Thanksgiving spread
Thankfully we pray to share our daily bread
Platter full of slice turkey in starring role
Co-starring cider, yams, gravy and rolls
The door is always open to serve all
Welcome everyone to come each fall
One Thanksgiving Day from the start
We’re thankful that we found our heart
Susan Marie Davniero
THIS THANKSGIVING DAY
Published Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church Bulletin
This time of year during Thanksgiving season we should count our blessings. Be grateful for the simple things in life. You may not have all that you want yet you probably have all that you need. The best things in life are free after all.
This Thanksgiving Day let someone thank you as you give to others - share and share alike. Share your feast, extend a heartfelt invite to the lonely, abandon, and set a place setting to just one forgotten neighbor, try to feed just one hungry person at a time. Do your part – nothing is too small. As Mother Teresa said; “If you can’t feed a hundred people, than feed just one.”
Make a difference. Donate food or volunteer at a pantry or soup kitchen. Today is the day to give back. A little bit of that goes a long way. Find a sense of usefulness and giving by helping others. You don’t know how much you have to give until you give to others.
Try to make the holiday better for others. Helping is its own reward. We get to heaven on the arm of the person we’re helping. Give thanks for our blessings. Try to leave the world better than how you found it.
Perhaps this year’s Thanksgiving Day will truly be a day you are thankful for.
Susan and Robert Davniero
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Happy Thanksgiving
Bob and Susan |
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Happy Thanksgiving
Laura and Dennis |
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"Old Country Buffet" Thanksgiving
Bob and Susan |
GRANDMA'S THANKSGIVING
(In Memory
of Grandma Bridge Cioffi)
by Susan Marie Davniero
Published Long Story Short
You’re invited
to Grandma’s Thanksgiving
Holiday feast
with all the trimmings
Family love
surrounds where they sat
All bridging
the generation gap
The table is
properly dressed
In its suitable
Sunday’s best
China plates
surround trim with roses
Sitting on bed
of place mat doilies
Apple cider
poured in stemware glasses
Antipasto debut
as appetizer
Welcome platter
of homemade pasta
The golden
turkey bows a starring role
Co-starring
yams, cranberry, corn and rolls
Mangia telling by Grandma’s call
Announcing Bon
Appétite to all
Rich desserts
spread closing act
Italian
pastries, pies and snacks
Full of turkey
and all of the above
But most of all
– you’ll be full of love.
by Susan Marie Daviero
THANKSGIVING AT GRANDMA'S
PUBLISHED NOV ISSUE - LONG STORY SHORT
In Memory of Bridget Cioffi
Come with me to a past Thanksgiving at Grandma’s. You’re invited
into Grandma’s (Bridget Cioffi) kitchen to savor the aroma of an authentic
Italian-American Thanksgiving feast. Far from being a quiet holiday,
Thanksgiving was bursting with the sounds of the holiday as relatives gather to
come together. The Thanksgiving holiday was always done with family tradition,
turkey and the trimmings, with little change from year to year.
I invite you to sit down with me at Grandma’s table to share my
nostalgic taste of my past Thanksgiving. The feast was always the high point of the day
where tables were joined together accompanied by a second children’s table. I
remember feeling grown up when I graduated from children’s table and sat
amongt adults.
There we are at Grandma’s table as the feast begins with the
entrance of a colorful tray of antipasto with assorted Italian meats, olives,
peppers and cheese displayed served as the apple cider is poured into elegant
stemware glasses.
I recall thinking when I looked at the table, how grand the
table was set for the holiday with china plates, folded cloth napkins,
alongside silver utensils gracing a lace tablecloth. We were taught to lay the
fancy holiday cloth napkins along our laps as proper young ladies would.
I recall how my Grandparents made homemade pasta lay out on a
sheet to dry prior to meeting the boiling water. After the family devoured each
rich morsel of lasagna, the star of the meal made its appearance – the Turkey
with all the trimmings; with a co-starring role of a baked chicken prepared
just for Grandpa “didn’t like turkey.”
The closing course was a display of tasty Italian delicacies
surrounded by assorted nuts, pastries, pumpkin pie, with a bowl of fruit and
Italian grapes plucked from the vine in Grandpa's backyard terrace.
Thanksgiving feast is an American holiday. Every slice of turkey is a serving a
tradition, a cup of apple cider is a cup of thanks, each slice of pie a slice
of blessings, each ladle of gravy pours out American’s history. Americans eat
it all up – it remains the same traditional meal throughout the years.
Thanksgiving Day is a patriotic holiday from the new American
citizens, like my Italian born Grandma, Bridget Cioffi, proud of her adopted
country, to American born citizen like me.Thanksgiving Day will forever remain
to be the holiday I am thankful for my blessings - from my early Thanksgiving
roots to the present day. Today I am forever thankful to be born American, just
as my Grandma was thankful to be a “born-again” American citizen. Let us all count our blessings this holiday
together. For Thanksgiving Day is the day all Americans are family. God Bless America.
Written by Susan Marie Davniero
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Susan's Balloons Creations
Front Door |
Published Long Story Short
OUR THANKSGIVING HEART
by Susan Marie Davniero
Seeking to find our Thanksgiving heart
One Thanksgiving Day, we took our part
Volunteering to join the serving line
At the pantry for the needy to dine
The table is set with a Thanksgiving spread
Thankfully we pray to share our daily bread
Platter full of sliced turkey in starring role
Co-starring cider, yams, gravy and rolls
The door is always open to serve all
Welcome everyone to come each fall
One Thanksgiving Day from the start
We’re thankful that we found our heart
by Susan Marie Davniero
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Susan's Balloons Creations
Front Door |
THANKSGIVING AT GRANDMA’S
Published Pancakes in Heaven w/photo of Grandma
by Susan Marie Davniero
(In memory of Bridget Grandma Cioffi)
Come with me to a past Thanksgiving at Grandma’s. You’re invited into Grandma’s (Bridget Cioffi) kitchen to savor the aroma of an authentic Italian-American Thanksgiving feast. Far from being a quiet holiday, Thanksgiving was bursting with the sounds of the holiday as relatives gather to come together.
I invite you to sit down with me at Grandma’s table to share my nostalgic taste of my past Thanksgiving. There we all are at Grandma’s dining room table dressed for the holiday. The feast begins with the entrance of a colorful tray of antipasto of pepperoni, provolone cheese, black olives, mushrooms, and red peppers served as apple cider is poured into elegant stemware glasses.
I recall thinking when I looked at the table, how grand the table was set for the holiday with china plates, folded cloth napkins, alongside silver utensils gracing a lace tablecloth. We never used cloth napkins at home, I thought.
I recall how my Grandparents made homemade pasta lay out on a sheet to dry prior to meeting the boiling water to layer the lasagna baked in Grandma’s appetizing home-made sauce. The pasta was the opening act for the star – as the Turkey brings down the house. I asked for the leg although it was always too big for me to finish but Grandma would never say no, as she exclaims, “Manja, Manja..”
The closing act was a display of tasty Italian delicacies surrounded by assorted Cannolis, Biscotti, fresh shelled nuts, Aunt Renee brought her pumpkin pie, and surrounded by the bowl of fruit with Grandpa’s Italian grapes proudly plucked from the vine in Grandpa's backyard terrace.
After we all helped clearing the dishes, the family gathered in group settings to play games of poker or Monopoly. (I learned the realty business from Monopoly and apparently my Italian-speaking Grandma learns her English given that she often won.)
Thanksgiving feast is a traditional American holiday. Every slice of turkey is a serving of tradition; a cup of apple cider is a cup of thanks, and each slice of pie a slice of blessings, each ladle of gravy pours out American’s history. Americans eat it all up – it remains the same traditional meal with little change from year to year.
Thanksgiving Day is surely a patriotic holiday from the new American citizens, like my Italian born Grandma, Bridget Cioffi, proud of her adopted country, to American born citizen like me. Thanksgiving Day will forever remain to be the holiday I am thankful for my blessings - from my early Thanksgiving roots to the present day.
Today I am forever thankful to be born American, just as my Grandma was thankful to be a “born-again” American citizen. Let us all count our blessings this holiday together. For Thanksgiving Day is the day all Americans are family. written by Susan Marie Davniero
HAPPY THANKSIVING DAY
Blessed are we
In God’s family
Sharing our bread
This Thanksgiving spread
The holiday fare
Made with care
Place setting for all
The dinner call
A holiday mood
Sharing food
The occasion raise
Our thanks and praise
We all agree
We’re in good company
Wishing to say
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Susan Marie Davniero
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Laura, Susan and Bob
Serving Thanksgiving - Circle of Love Church |
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE
This Thanksgiving Day
Let someone say
Thank you
To you
As you live
And give
To others
Sisters and brothers
Feed the hungry
In poverty
A heartfelt invite
Kind and polite
Ask the forgotten
To come ‘on in
Holiday mood
Donate food
Serve and volunteer
Far and near
Soup kitchens
Pantry inns
Do your part
It’s a start
See the light
Share and share alike
Susan Marie Davniero
MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE
Published Great South Bay Mag
Macy’s seasonal tradition
Since 1924 a celebration
Sponsored by Macy’s trade
The Thanksgiving Day Parade
By way of Herald Square
The crowds gather there
Coming out to celebrate
This Thanksgiving date
Giving thanks it reasons
Welcoming in the season
Floats, bands, and clowns
A show parading down
Balloons fly in the sky
The parade is passing by
A national event is made
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Susan Marie Davniero
THANKSGIVING MEMORIES
Published Daily News
At the first Thanksgiving in the New World celebrated in 1621, one year after Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, early settlers have given thanks for the land’s rich good earth’s abundance they found here.
Since the first National Holiday of Thanksgiving mandated by President Lincoln in 1863 was proclaimed, Americans have come together to offer thanks for our many blessings. Americans are a grateful people.
On this Thanksgiving Day let us remember to pause and set apart time to observe the day for which we give thanks. Essentially, Thanksgiving Day is a day to be truly thankful for.
Let the Thanksgiving memories out remembering past holidays. Memories improve with age. Also, achieving distance helps us to comprehend what the holiday means to us. Looking back across the years gives us another Thanksgiving feast to enjoy with others long gone.
Hold onto those moments and give to others a part of your special day wishing others Happy Thanksgiving. Sometimes a greeting is enough for a bankrupt life as paid passage back to join the world this blessed Thanksgiving Day.
Susan Marie Davniero
Our Thanksgiving Heart
By Susan Marie Davniero
Published Long Story Short
Seeking to find our
Thanksgiving heart
One Thanksgiving Day, we took our part
Volunteering to join the serving line
At the pantry for the needy to dine
The table is set with a Thanksgiving spread
Thankfully we pray to share our daily bread
Platter full of slice turkey in starring role
Co-starring cider, yams, gravy and rolls
The door is always open to serve all
Welcome everyone to come each fall
One Thanksgiving Day from the start
We’re thankful that we found our heart
By Susan Marie Davniero
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| Our front door |
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| Pine Cones in my window |
|
Bob and Susan
Serving Thanksgiving - Farmingdale Church |
OUR THANKSGIVING HEART
Seeking to find our
Thanksgiving heart
One Thanksgiving Day, we took
our part
Volunteering to join the
serving line
At the pantry for the needy
to dine
The table is set with a
Thanksgiving spread
Thankfully we pray to share
our daily bread
Platter full of slice turkey
in starring role
Co-starring cider, yams,
gravy and rolls
The door is always open to
serve all
Welcome everyone to come each
fall
One Thanksgiving Day from the
start
We’re thankful that we found
our heart
Susan Marie Davniero
ONE THANKSGIVING DAY
One Thanksgiving Day my husband, Bob, and I volunteered at a local Church charitable Thanksgiving Dinner for the needy in the community. We join with the other volunteers preparing Thanksgiving dinner.
Far from being a quiet room, the soup kitchen is busy with volunteers preparing the turkey and trimmings; the aroma of turkey baking pervades the air, as we all get to work. We’re handed aprons and instructed to join in the line to pack wheels-on-meals delivered to the shut-ins.
The door is open as the quests arrive. All are welcome. Bob and I are now serving to the quests arriving to sit down and eat their Thanksgiving Meal at the panty. We stand at a table with platters of turkey, jams and cranberry jelly. I tried to be neat and dish out generous portions. The quests are remarkably polite thanking us for their meal. I was taken aback by the children with their parents. I just didn’t think there would be children.
After dinner is served we sit among the guests and mingle. I talked with a guest who lost his job unable to find work beside a mother who brought her specialty stuffed mushrooms to share with others. A young military son in the Marines (with the regulated military crew cut), came with his single mother. She announces to me how proud she is of him and how her family comes every year.
A kind hearted gentleman, dressed in worn jeans and red plaid shirt looking in need of a shave and haircut, makes it known to me he came to eat with someone “Otherwise I would be alone in my room.”
This Thanksgiving Day as volunteers surpassed the usually family tradition at home among family. The day spent as volunteers extend beyond kinship reaching out to share our daily bread with our neighbors across town remembering we are all one family under God.
Let us remember to give thanks for the blessings we can share with all people - “share and share alike.” This one Thanksgiving Day as volunteers was a day we were truly thankful for.
God Bless,
Susan and Robert Davniero
HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY
Blessed are we
In God’s family
Sharing our bread
This Thanksgiving spread
The holiday fare
Made with care
Place setting for all
The dinner call
A holiday mood
Sharing food
The occasion raise
Our thanks and praise
We all agree
We’re in good company
Wishing to say
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Susan Marie Davniero
NEW YORK DAILY
NEWS
Published Nov 25, 2013
Thanksgiving memories are all about the leftovers — a gift
that keeps on giving. Every slice of turkey is a serving of tradition, and each
slice of pumpkin pie a slice of family. A cup of cider is a cup of love, just as
each ladle of gravy pours out history. Americans eat it all up.
From our pilgrim roots to the present day, we shall be
forever thankful to be Americans on Thanksgiving Day.
Susan and Robert
Davniero
THIS THANKSGIVING DAY
This Thanksgiving Day
A blessed holiday
As you live
And give
To others
Sisters and brothers
Holiday mood
Donate food
Serve and volunteer
Far and near
Soup kitchens
Pantry inns
See the light
Share and share alike
Susan Marie Davniero
 |
Published: Newsday
Long Island, NY newspaper |
Grandma’s
Thanksgiving
(In memory of Grandma Bridget
Cioffi)
You’re invited to Grandma’s
Thanksgiving
Holiday
feast with all the trimmings
Family love surrounds where
they sat
All bridging the generation
gap
The table is properly
dressed
In it’s suitable Sunday’s
best
China
plates surround trim with roses
Sitting on bed of placemat
doilies
Apple cider poured in stemware
glasses
Antipasto debut as
appetizer
Welcome platter of homemade
pasta
The golden turkey bows a
starring role
Co-starring yams, cranberry,
corn and rolls
Mangia telling by Grandma’s
call
Announcing Bon Appétit to
all
Rich deserts spread closing
act
Italian pastries, pies and
snacks
Full of turkey and all of the
above
But most of all – you’ll be
full of love.
Susan Marie Davniero
 |
| Thanksgiving November 2013 |
At thanksgiving we're thankful
Turkey trimmings overstuffed
Give the wish bone a break
Spare the bird for goodness sake
Everyone will be thankful
The turkey will be thankful too
Attachment Send Out for Pizza card from my sister, Teresa
Published Daily News
Thanks for Thanksgiving - Let us remember American history when in 1941 Congress passed a law officially sanction Thanksgiving to be on the fourth Thursday of November, to answer our questions why Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday.
In memory of President Roosevelt, sharing and celebrating the Thanksgiving meal that year with polio patients (stricken with polio himself) at the Warm Springs Foundation Paralysis Sufferers. This is the true meaning of Thanksgiving - sharing our bread with the less fortunate.
Remember the less fortunate, in memory of President Roosevelt as a role model, in your path of life - the sick, needy, and poor. Be Thankful to share our daily bread with others less fortunate this Thanksgiving - it is a day to give.
Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful to give.
Susan and Robert Davniero
'Miracle on 34th St.'
