Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No pressure to find the right gift. No hype. No expectations. Just good food and good times, surrounded by people you love.  What could be better.  

For about 20 years my Aunt Helen, Uncle Don’s wife, had all my family on my father’s side to their house for Thanksgiving.  Everyone came. It was like a family reunion after my grandparents died. The whole family looked forward to it.  Cousins came from near and far.  So much food! Everyone brought not just a dish, but several dishes!  And they were all good!  There would be 40-50 of us there ranging in age from newborn to 90!  

Sadly, Aunt Helen passed away in April of 2022.  Shortly after that, in September, my mother passed away.  Thanksgiving was coming up and we didn’t know what to do.  The two matriarchs who ran the show were gone.  My sister Laurin and I were still grieving the loss of our mother.  My cousin Clair was still grieving the loss of her mother.  Even though we weren’t sure we were up to it, we decided that although it would be hard, we felt like the tradition should continue. Uncle Don encouraged us to do it because he thought the family needed to be together.

Since Uncle Don was 91, he couldn’t handle us all at his house by himself.  Clair’s house wouldn’t work and mine is too small.  So the decision was made to have it at Laurin’s.  We hustled and hurried and worked like convicts, and we pulled it off!  Everyone came.  It wasn’t quite the same, but it was pretty close.  When it was over, everyone, and I mean everyone, thanked us for doing it.  They were afraid the tradition would end and were so glad to keep it alive.  

So for the last few days, we’ve once again been working like convicts. We’ve had a few hiccups along the way, but they worked out, as things tend to do.  All that’s left is cooking the meats and the casseroles. 

We will only have about 25 this year.  One cousin had surgery on Monday.  Another is meeting their children and grandchildren in Nashville.  Another is having some health issues and wasn’t up to the trip.  But we have some coming in who haven’t been with us in a while, and we are so glad of that. No matter how many are there, we will enjoy seeing one another and spending time with loved ones.  And that’s something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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