In eleven hours, my mother will be scrambling around the kitchen, checking the turkey, mashing the potatoes and refusing all offers of help from everyone. "Go sit down," she'll say. "Have a drink! It's Thanksgiving!"

My father will lock himself in the basement with my brothers, my husband and my uncles, never to be seen until the Green Bay Packers kick the tar out of the Detroit Lions. Not a moment of this football game can be missed! The consequences for speaking while the Almighty Brett Favre is working his offensive magic are not to be taken lightly.

My sister and I will adorn the dining table with Mom's best holiday tablecloth. The vibrant hues of red, orange, gold and brown coordinate with the beautiful autumn centerpiece at the center of the table, the one we put out every year; and the cornucopia will make it's home on the antique hutch my mother inherited when Grandma Alice passed away.

This holiday will be nothing like the traditional celebrations I remember from my childhood. We would gather at Great Aunt Hannah's house each year because she always cooked the biggest bird, her refrigerator never ran out of Point beer, and she had the longest dining table, suitable for many rounds of pinochle and poker, as well as feasting on turkey with the trimmings.

While Aunt Hannah and Grandma were commandeering the kitchen and fretting over the turkey, the men of the house were seated at the table playing pinochle and arguing about politics and religion. One would think that family feuds were plenty given the topic of conversation, but surprisingly everyone was amicable. Fighting only occurred if Uncle Eddie swept away the pot after a game of Seven-card stud, or if cousin Shawn had too many whiskey-sours and belted out the chorus to every Abba song she knew.

I can still hear their voices, husky from smoking cigars and Marlboro Reds, discussing President Ronald Reagan and the failing 1980s economy, President Richard Nixon and Watergate, and of course, the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

I couldn't have been more than five years old, but oh, how I remember! My father's powerful voice filled the room as he spoke of the alleged conspiracy hatched by Lyndon B. Johnson and Gerald Ford. The theories thrown across the table were endless, and thinking about it today reminds me of "the telephone game". The story changed with each passing around the Thanksgiving table.

But Grandma Alice spoke of JFK so brilliantly. She reminisced about the day the first Catholic president was elected into office. She loved President Kennedy as if he were akin to her. She often referred to him as her president and felt that no one had more charm and charisma, or more power, than JFK. Her gray eyes lit up with pride as she exclaimed, "If anyone can, Kennedy can!" She said the words as though she was hearing that slogan for the first time.

Soon Grandma's eyes reflected sadness and grief as she relived the feelings of terror while listening to Walter Cronkite's newscast. "Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas." She remembered that she was watching one of her programs, the soap opera "As the World Turns", as she heard the fateful words. She remembered feeling sick to her stomach, sobbing for hours, and praying the rosary.

Those same beautiful gray eyes filled with tears, and her voice faltered, as she recalled Jacqueline Kennedy's later appearance on television, her clothing stained with her husband's blood, as she walked slowly to a car to be taken away from Parkland Hospital.

Tom Shine of the ABC blog Politics As Usual recollects that moment in history as well. He writes:

"It was 1963 and the Notre Dame football team was having a season identical to this year's -- 2 wins and tons of defeats. I was studying to be a priest and history class had just started in the Tin building that housed the high school. Suddenly an out-of-breath upperclassman burst through the door and shouted "Kennedy has been shot!" My first reaction was, what did he say? Soon the class was dismissed and we all headed to the rec room where there was 1 Black and White TV and a bunch of chairs. CBS's Walter Cronkite was reading a wire story wearing the ugliest pair of glasses i had ever seen. But soon the glasses came off and Cronkite, a journalist back in the day when emotions were held in check and just the facts were reported, seemed to stumble and his voice cracked as he read the UPI Bulletin that President Kennedy had died and then he looked up at a clock and gave the time."

Laurie Kendrick was only four years old, but she shares her memory of that day:

"My memories are a bit vague, but I do remember the moment the world found out that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.For me, that day began shortly after 12:30 pm. I’d eaten lunch and it was time for my afternoon nap. My mother who’d just started rocking me to get me to go to sleep, was watching her favorite soap opera, “As the World Turns”, which focused on the many trials and tribulations of the fictitious Hughes family of the fictitious Oakdale, Any State—U.S.A.

On that day, I remember the soap’s matriarch, Nancy Hughes and her father-in-law “Grandpa” were in the back yard talking about planting begonias or something botanical when the TV screen suddenly went silent. A solid black screen replaced the picture.Then, a man’s voice pierced the silence. I would later learn it was that of legendary CBS news anchor, Walter Conkrite.

He relayed that shots had been fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in Dallas and there was a report that he’d been wounded. A few minutes later, another update confirming that Kennedy had been shot and was undergoing emergency surgery at Parkland Hospital.

My mother was upset. She was a card carrying Democrat, as most Texans were back then. But aside from party affiliation, she respected the Kennedy family, especially their elan, their style and in-your-face Catholicism. Additionally, she and Jackie Kennedy were the same age. I remember my mother holding me and saying, “That poor woman. That poor woman!”"

This Thanksgiving, I find myself thinking about JFK and imagining what the remaining term of his presidency would have been like, had he lived to fulfill it. If the events of November 22, 1963 never occurred, would our country be in a better position today? Would it be worse?

Taylor Marsh posted a YouTube video of John F. Kennedy on her blog. She writes:

"He couldn't get elected today... Democratic partisans would throw John F. Kennedy to the wolves... Republicans would talk about his family values problem... Rudy would commiserate with him..."

Texas Cloverleaf writes:

"November 22 marks the 44th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Undoubtedly, as Dallas Morning News columnist Jacquielynn Floyd suggests, there will be a mass rally of craziness.

Even on normal days, you can spot people selling conspiracy fliers on the corner that welcomes you to Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum. The whole set up really does seem to actually want to attract whack jobs. Where else can you climb to the exact spot that an American President was shot from and look out the window? On top of that, what other city marks the road, so you can see the exact location said President was when he took rifle shots to the head? Can’t visit Dallas? Have no fear! Look out the window from the web cam.

We hope those of you who do visit Dealey Plaza on Thanksgiving will use it as a time of thanks and celebration. Even though you may have to contend with 9-11 conspiracy theorists and Homeland Security agents when you go, remember that JFK gave his life for the freedom of Americans to choose to be conspiracy theorists. He gave his life, so that we have the right to stand in that same location and protest the current American President. We give thanks to John F. Kennedy."

Amanda from Slow Like Honey shares a quote for the Thanksgiving holiday on her blog:

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” -- John F. Kennedy"

Today, I must pause to remember the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. A man who said, "So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved."

And I will pause to remember his words because later today, my family will be discussing politics and religion, "the left" and "the right", Nixon, Ford and Reagan, and giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

I guess it will be a traditional Thanksgiving after all.

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Contributing editor Dana J. Tuszke also blogs at The Dana Files.