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Doesn’t this look like a fabulous Thankgiving? This is my family, pre-Janice. These are all of the Pucketts, circa 1950 or so, in Big Spring, Texas. That’s my grandmother standing at the far left. My dad is the young man standing between the boy and the man in the dark shirt, Dad has on a tie.
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The Puckett family used to have fabulous Thanksgiving reunions. Great-grandma Lou Puckett asked that her children and grandchildren gather with her each year for Thankgiving and then they could share their Christmas with their spouses’ family. By this picture, Mamma Puckett had died, but her husband, Sam Houston Puckett, was still alive and is the older man in the forefront of the picture (just behind my Aunt Leta and cousin Mike–they both live here in Austin/Round Rock). My grandparents had a huge house on a hill overlooking Big Spring. Mamma took in boarders and served big meals in this dining room. Wouldn’t you love to be a part of this big meal? A lot of great cooks in this family (to this day!).
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When I came into the family and began to attend these reunions, they were moved from house to house each year, rotating between the six “children” who almost all had grandchildren of their own. We had reunions at a bowling alley in Spur, a school in Gay Hill, a bank in Big Spring, and houses in Canyon, Plainview, and Hamilton. I’m sure there were more, but those stood out in my mind. Eventually the family got bigger and bigger and more family members wanted to have their own Thanksgiving because there were even more spouses and spouses’ families to have to share holidays with. Then the Pucketts started having the reunion catered instead of someone preparing the meal. Sigh. I think that killed the reunion. I think we stopped having the reunion in the early 70s.
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I was just thinking that most of the living people in this photo live around the Austin area, my aunt and cousin, my uncle lives in Lago Vista, two cousins (sisters) that live in Burnette and Austin, the little boy on the back row lives in Bastrop. When I think of the Pucketts, I think of Big Spring, but it seems like many of us have found our way to Austin. Since the Pucketts lived in Granger in the 19th century, I guess it just came full circle. But that will be another story.So many memories of my grandmother’s meals and the Puckett reunions. The family has scattered, but I am still thankful to have grown up with this kind of family and have these memories.
