A Christmas Memory & Yesteryear

The Thanksgiving Visitor stirred up a lot of mixed emotions from nostalgia for yesteryear to injustice & suicide.

One member shared that "It bothered me how badly bullied the main character (Buddy) was. It bothered me how no one believed Buddy, and he was the one to be punished. He even thought about suicide. I was glad he was not bullied anymore at the end, but I wanted something more after the bully was called out. Yes, forgiveness is a good thing, but bullies and thieves should be held accountable. Ugh."

How did it land on your ears in our modern time to read how Buddy's Aunt handled the situation of his being bullied?

What a few of our members thought - 

"Totally get it! I think I very quickly put things in their time frame, for the 1930’s I assumed this was “normal”. Likely still inappropriate but that was my take."

"Same. I could even hear some of my relatives saying some of those things. That was just how it was “back in the day.” It did bother me thru a more modern lens tho."

"That bothered me, too. You aren’t alone. The other stories will round out the setting, the family, etc and maybe give it more context. Don’t forget to read those after Thanksgiving to get you in a holiday mood."

"I get Buddy’s feeling of persecution and running away someplace alone when you feel mistreated, and his “they’d all be sorry if he was dead” which shows a definite child-like opinion of suicide as a punishment for those who they believe mistreated them, but also more mature in realizing he wouldn’t be there to enjoy/witness said punishment. I also get wanting to run off, bc I actually tried that at least once as a child, although I was stopped in the living room after putting some cans of food in a pillowcase on my way out. My grandmother asked what I was doing, I told her I was running away. She told me to sit down and watch the tv for a minute, that something was happening that I would never forget. She was right- it was tv coverage of JFK’s assassination. And I gradually forgot why I was mad and put the canned goods back."