Photo: A Lewis Family Thanksgiving at the Ranch. That's me at the far left.

Spending My Thanksgivings on the H.W. Lewis Ranch:
Grandma Always Made the Turkey Dressing

​Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday that each year speaks to our love of country, family, the bounty of the earth, gratitude, and tradition.
 
From sky-high co-ops in Manhattan to log cabins in the Rockies and beach cottages in Hawaii, families and friends gather once a year to eat, toast, laugh, play, and give thanks.
 
For me, Thanksgiving on the ranch was and remains an unsurpassed experience. If you’ve never had the sublime pleasure, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

---

Spending My Thanksgivings on the H.W. Lewis Ranch:
Grandma Always Made the Turkey Dressing

By Lem Lewis
The Ranch Broker​

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday that each year speaks to our love of country, family, the bounty of the earth, gratitude, and tradition.
 
From sky-high co-ops in Manhattan to log cabins in the Rockies and beach cottages in Hawaii, families and friends gather once a year to eat, toast, laugh, play, and give thanks.
 
For me, Thanksgiving on the ranch was and remains an unsurpassed experience. If you’ve never had the sublime pleasure, I recommend it wholeheartedly.
 
I grew up in Leakey, Texas, on the ranch my great grandfather H.W. Lewis bought in the late 1920s. If I could, I would wish my upbringing on every boy and girl in America.
 
Ranching instills a love of country and an appreciation of our abundant and beautiful land like no other lifestyle I know.

My mom and grandmother would cook for days ahead of time. Since we were kids and we’re off school, Thanksgiving meant running off into the woods and doing stupid things, like playing with snakes and jumping out of trees.
 
On the ranch, I learned about working with livestock; training horses; hunting; fishing; and camping. But I also learned important values: family, charity, neighbors, patriotism, environmental preservation, and most importantly, God.
 
Never were those lessons more palpable or meaningful than at Thanksgiving, when year-after-year we hosted extended family and friends at the H.W. Lewis family ranch.
 
During the year, it was mostly me, my brother, my sister, and my parents who lived and worked the ranch. But at Thanksgiving, my grandparents would come in; and aunts, uncles, and cousins would pack their bags and join us at the ranch lodge.
 
My mom and grandmother would cook for days ahead of time. Since we were kids and we’re off school, Thanksgiving meant running off into the woods and doing stupid things, like playing with snakes and jumping out of trees.

MOST MEMORABLE OF ALL

But most memorable of all, it meant deer hunting, which always coincided with the holiday. In our family, deer hunting was every bit as much a Thanksgiving tradition as turkey, sweet potatoes, and a crackling fireplace.
 
We not only hunted deer, we also shared family folklore – passed from one generation to the next – of great deer hunts past. The best times were when Granddad wanted to go hunting with us, and Grandma would let him.

Photo: The best times were when Granddad wanted to go hunting with us.

​Those were more innocent days.

The Thanksgivings I most remember were when I was probably 8-to-12 years old. I hadn’t lost anybody at that point in my life. My grandparents were still alive and we had big Thanksgivings. We’d typically seat all of the kids and extended family at two or three tables, although I recall a few times when we were able to line up the tables end-to-end, and we all sat together.
 
There was something almost spiritual about Grandma’s dressing, which tasted the exact same year after year. It was as if love and family history were two of the secret ingredients.

My grandfather would preside over the meal, saying the blessing, and turning to each of us to share the things during the past year that we were most thankful for.
 
There was always enough homemade food, side dishes, bread, pies and other desserts to feed an army. My mom would do the turkey – no pork or venison at Thanksgiving dinner – and Grandma did the dressing.
 
There was something almost spiritual about Grandma’s dressing, which tasted the exact same year after year. It was as if love and family history were two of the secret ingredients.
 
Even now, decades later, I can’t help but remember the taste and texture of Grandma’s dressing. I’ve enjoyed many wonderful Thanksgiving meals since her passing, and I always appreciate them. But even when the food is excellent, it’s never exactly Grandma’s dressing.

Photo: Even when the food is excellent, it's never exactly Grandma's dressing.

As an adult, I’ve become an expert at ranch valuations, negotiating, studying investment returns, and deciphering complex and often arcane real estate deeds.
 
But as a kid none of that mattered, nor should it matter to those today who can comprehend the priceless experience of raising kids – or even just spending quality time – on a family-owned ranch.
 
What price could I put on my Thanksgiving ranch memories? How much was it worth just being out in the woods with my siblings and cousins and having the freedom to explore and entertain ourselves, and use our imagination?

NOT ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
 
Would all the money in the world be enough to forgo the pride I felt – or the tears I shed – when I killed my first deer, at age 10, and joined the fraternity of men in my family for whom hunting was not just a sport – but a means of providing for our loved ones.  In the Lewis household, we never waste anything. If we’re not going to eat it, we don’t kill it.
 
So here we are once again at Thanksgiving, and it falls to me and my wife, Melonie, to instill in our children the traditions and values that will remain with them for a lifetime.
 
Ranching is central to that. My boys still use the same deer rifle that I killed my first deer with. When I offer Thanksgiving table blessings, I hear my Granddad’s voice echoing in my prayer. And each and every time we pass the turkey dressing, I think of Grandma and miss her all the more.
 
Here’s wishing you and your loved ones a very special Thanksgiving.