We had a very lovely Thanksgiving. As I've often written, holidays can be a bit melancholy for Wife and I as our kids are so very far away and it is so hard for us to get together. It is usually hit or miss with our friends since most often they are visiting their kids who are not so far away. This year we had our good friends Gaius Derf and Agent W along with Cabinet Lady, Dr. Deb and DD's sister.
It was most enjoyable. The food came out great. And everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. But what a difference in feeling from Thanksgiving as I knew for the first half of my life. My mother had a family reunion type Thanksgiving that went on for some 50 years until her passing. Usually there would be 20+ people with various relatives from around the country coming. From the time I left home to the time my Mother died 6 years ago, I would trek to Connecticut either driving 7 or 8 hours from Maryland where we used to live or flying from Albuquerque. For the last 8 years or so I was Mom's right hand person in the kitchen and pretty much took over all of the cooking at the end. It was always a stressful period because my Dad hated these gatherings with a passion. It was one of the few things I saw them really fight about and those last years I was always in the middle. It got to a point where I dreaded the event but did it because I knew how important it was to my Mother.
It was always a bit bacchanalian with the way my family loves eating. People would have seconds or thirds of each dish. We made massive amounts of food. Now fast forward to this year. All of us are at least over 50 with two couples over 60. The event consisted of everyone taking a nice controlled (relatively speaking) plate of food, eating, and our sitting around and talking (with plenty of wine though - not much restraint there at least) for another few hours. It was lovely, calm, sedate. Not bad mind you, just very different from the memory temple of old.
5 comments:
Our traditions do change. Obviously not a bad thing.
I didn't realize grandma did Thanksgiving for so many years. I think as a kid I was also really oblivious to how much a bone of contention it was between gma and gpa.
I think our family traditions really have a pull on us. Doing things differently just never feels quite right. I'm glad you had a good time though. Maybe a new tradition is in the works!
At least there was no cleaning of the annual car-sickness! ;)
We miss Thanksgiving, too.
Glad you enjoyed the day! Change isn't always great, but we adapt.
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