Thank you so much for sharing your Nan with Post-Gazette readers ["Missing Nan" by Rebecca Sodergren, Food & Flavor, Nov. 24]. I was moved to tears by your words, and yet I have an even stronger desire to create lasting memories and traditions for my family.

ANA M. COMPAIN-ROMERO
Columbia, Mo.

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What a wonderful article and tribute to your grandmother, Norma Beinlich.

I so well remember Norma; I was a member of the Pleasant Hills Garden Club and Pleasant Hills Church. Your grandmother [she lived in Pleasant Hills before moving to her farm in Forward] was absolutely a delight. Norma hosted many circle meetings and garden club luncheons at the farm. We all looked forward to those days. How well I remember the beautiful table linens and flowers that she gathered from the field. What a charming house. I recall the dining room table; she said it had been the original table of the house. Also the beautiful dinnerware.

I printed a few copies of your article; I'm going to send them to a couple of ladies who knew your grandmother. I know they will enjoy reading "Missing Nan."

BARBARA L. CARNES
Pleasant Hills

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I so enjoyed your article honoring your grandmother. What a tribute to a grand lady. I was one of many from the Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church who so looked forward to the luncheons/picnics at the farm: The fresh flowers in every room, the linen napkins and wonderful food that she insisted on preparing for all of us were special memories that I will not forget.

God sends angels to us as friends of the heart and Norma Beinlich was one of those angels.

CHERYL STIVER
Pleasant Hills

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It was a thrill to see the loving article about Norma. She was a dear friend of my late sister, Lucille Geddis. When Norma was no longer driving, my sister would pick her up for church and they often had breakfast afterward.

I will be having a Friday Thanksgiving with Ceil's four daughters and will share your article with them. I cried when I read it, thinking of her and my sister. My sister moved to Passavant Retirement Community. She died in 2004 and is greatly missed.

AMY CORE
Zelienople

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I just read your article on Nan -- wonderful! We miss her and think fondly of her quite often as we continue to enjoy the flowers she planted in our garden when she was moving away from the farm!

Thanks for sharing your memories with a wider audience and continuing Nan's tradition of being a blessing to so many!

REV. DR. PAUL H. THWAITE
Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church

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I was the successor to Michael Wenning at the Pleasant Hills Church, and while the Thanksgiving tradition was not one we continued with Nan, her hospitality and love was immensely significant for virtually my entire 18 years there! What you say about her marvelously captures her spirit! Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

STAN OTT
Oak Hill, Va.

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Thank you for the beautiful article about your beloved grandmother, a perfect story to relate during the week of Thanksgiving, which means so much to so many.

You were fortunate to have had such an outstanding, loving and generous woman in your life for so long, and it is tragic that although beautiful memories remain, your grandmother is no longer a physical part of your family.

I suffered an enormous loss in 2005 as well, the passing of my beloved mother at the age of 83. Particularly given that my mother and I were unusually close, and that mine is a tiny family, Mother's absence has had a profound effect on me. It was something that I often wondered if I would survive, but with the help of my wife, I have survived and thrived. Like the thoughts you have of your grandmother, I am so often reminded of facets of life with Mother. I cannot tell you how often I have said to my wife since 2005, "Mother would have said ..." in the face of a certain event.

I hope that you and your family have a joyous Thanksgiving filled with beautiful memories of holidays past, though, sadly for those like us, today's such holidays are never the same.

OREN M. SPIEGLER
Upper St. Clair

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What a lovely tribute to your grandmother! Thank you for letting us all see it.

ALEX KNISELY
London (the "Pittsburgher in exile" still owns a house in the Allegheny West neighborhood of Pittsburgh)

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I really enjoyed your article. My mom's been gone since 1986; we never knew her mom as she died when the twins (my mom and aunt) were 5 years old. Mom had all the holidays until she died in 1986 (suddenly).

For a while, everyone came to my house in Penn Hills. That was difficult, since two of the five sisters didn't have vehicles and, of course, had the largest families.

For the past 10 years, for various reasons, we've all had our own Thanksgivings. My son lives near his in-laws so they celebrate there, and my daughter goes to her in-laws, who graciously started inviting us to their Thanksgivings a few years back.

Mom/Grandma certainly was the glue that held the family together.

JANET DEVINNEY
Penn Hills

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Thanks for your touching essay about your Nan. It brought back a flood of memories of my own about Grandma Jane at a time of year the memories come back anyway.

Grandma Jane died 41 years ago today, two days after Thanksgiving at the young age of 63, when I was 14. When I say life has never been the same, I mean it.

Grandma was a farmer's daughter who left her native Punxy area for the metropolis of Scranton when she was about 19.

She met my "up and coming" grandfather, but instead of great bounty and happiness, they experienced great lack for the entire 42 years of their marriage, save the addition of my mother to their family.

My mother remembers the dandelion greens they routinely ate because there was nothing else. Family dinners were wonderful, however, for me and my five siblings. There was always the turkey and stuffing and regular dishes but also bowls of fresh canned mustard pickle and picalilli.

One of my fondest memories of sight and scent was watching my grandmother slice the celery and onions into the skillet, simmer them, then add the poultry seasoning. To this day I duplicate her method.

My mother has long since stopped her own huge Thanksgiving preparations, being a widow and now 82. This year, my sister says we are going out for a meal, and I guess this makes sense.

But what I will be pining for is 40-some years ago, the smells, tastes and sights not unlike what you had with your Nan. I hope you are comforted as much as possible with your own here and now, as I will be.

CHRIS BARNES
Wilkinsburg