The Little Honey's Little Adventures book series is based on true stories from our early childhood growing up in Baltimore, Maryland in the late 1950s and early 60s. The stories are ultimately about unconditional family love as my sister, Tara, and I navigated our small world.
Our family was like many others from that era. Our father, Louis Eisenhauer worked outside of the home and our mother, Rosemary worked in the home. Sociologists describe this post World War II family structure as a response to the worldwide chaos of the war and its aftermath. Yet the post war family structure was a shift from the mid to late 19th century when many extended families lived together. In The Icing Story, after Mommy and Angel put icing on her birthday cake, Angel goes to read a book and Mommy goes to do the laundry. In our household, this is what happened. Our father would leave for his job every day and our mother would stay home and care for us and do the household chores. But it was not a Leave it to Beaver or Ozzie and Harriet household. Outside of work, our father was involved in the Civil Rights movement and outside of the home, our mother worked on her college degree and was involved with the League of Women voters. But times really changed for many American families beginning in the late 60s and 70s and continuing to the present. Far more households included divorces, remarriages, and extended family structures. Stepparents, step-siblings, and half siblings became part of the norm. Interracial, inter-religious, interethnic, and same sex marriages added to the mix. In some cases, even good friends became part of the family structure. All of these changes have the potential to result in healthier and happier families. After my divorce, I started hosting Prequel Thanksgiving dinners the weekend before Thanksgiving Day as a way for all my children, and extended family and friends to celebrate together without interfering and complicating their Thanksgiving Day plans. Like so many others, our celebrations often had a mixture of family related by blood and family who were not. Who will be at your Thanksgiving celebration and dinner this year? Any other plans for gathering to celebrate with extended family or friends? Favorite recipes to share? Have a very Happy Holiday season! The holiday season is a joyous time to celebrate with family and friends but there are many in our community who are struggling to put food on the table and cannot afford necessities. For this reason, Little Honey’s Little Adventures is donating to the Lighthouse Shelter in Annapolis as well as the Maryland Food Bank and Toys for Tots.
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Tara Ebersole
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