Happy Thanksgiving!
11.27.2008
I love Thanksgiving! I think one of my favorite things about it is that we don't have to go anywhere. We never travel for Thanksgiving, since everyone is too far away to make it feasible. That means we usually invite whoever is nearby over - usually James and Michele - and just have a nice quiet day of board games, listening to music, and this year - playing pinball. Quite a different holiday from the Thanksgivings we had growing up. We'd all head over to my grandparent's house - all eighty bajillion of us. My dad was one of 8 kids, and I had quite a few cousins. I think there were thirty something of us grandkids the last time I checked. So back in the day, there were at least twenty of us running around. We'd play football for hours before dinner in the front yard, my uncle drawing out the plays on his belly. Some of the other kids in the neighborhood would usually join in, and about when the game went from touch to tackle was when my cousin and I would head to the attic. The attic was great - full of old board games, toys, and even some medieval-looking weapons hanging on the walls. To get to the games, you had to walk a plywood ramp into the darkness of the storage part of the attic, reaching for a single hanging lightbulb which may or may not be burnt out. Although I knew there wasn't anything scary there, it still gave me tingles up my spine when I'd click it and it wouldn't light. The other part of the attic was set up with couches and bookshelves, a bedroom and even a little bathroom. I thought it was the coolest thing ever that some of my uncles and my dad had lived up there when they were in high school and college. After a couple hours playing games, someone would poke their head in the door and yell up the stairs to go wash our hands, and dinner was ready! There was usually not enough room around the big table for the kids, so we'd eat in the kitchen. This we definitely preferred, because it allowed us to slip outside before the adults had finished and could grab us to help with the dishes. I was always in the group of grandkids that was just young enough to avoid any major responsibilities at holiday time, but old enough to play by ourselves without any interference. But in 1995 my grandmother died, and everyone stopped spending the holidays together. It wasn't a slow change either, but a sudden shift to having small family dinners at our own house. If you can call any of our family dinners "small".
Well, back to today. As we celebrate Thanksgiving I am reminded that I have so many things to be thankful for. I am thankful for my sweet husband and my family and friends among other things. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
Posted bySarah at 12:37 PM
