Thanksgiving Memories
Happy Thanksgiving! This time of year always brings back memories from a thirty-year period when I got together with extended family for an annual family reunion. My mom is from a family of ten kids. We met in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as that was the half-way point between Pennsylvania/Ohio and Fort Lauderdale, Florida until my grandmother’s health shifted and then moved it to Tampa, Florida. Growing up, I lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and later moved to Georgia before landing in Arizona. It started with three days and extended to be a week-long event later.
We would have 25 to 50 people depending on the year with people’s schedules. We made most of the food from the kitchenettes in our individual rooms and would take it down to a large meeting room. I remember several times carrying pots and pans filled with homemade food down flights of stairs keeping our fingers crossed that all would go smoothly! We attempted going to a restaurant or having Thanksgiving dinner catered, but it was difficult to find something that matched my maternal grandmother’s recipes.
We got together up until my grandmother passed in 2013. Often when something major occurs, it has a ripple effect on other things, and it definitely did with us getting together. The happy memories way out did the challenging moments, yet that connection shifted and people shifted as a result. As I am writing this the image of my grandfather with pipe cleaners made to look like antlers on his head comes to mind (the picture on the cover) as one year the family learned my one uncle was joining the moose lodge and we decided to help make him feel welcomed by making the antlers for everyone to wear for when he came into dinner the first night. Such a hoot! As you can imagine there was lots of laughter and joy!
We would build puzzles, play cards, take walks on the beach in the early years, and enjoy one another’s company. I am very grateful for these experiences in my life and the richness of the relationships of the past and present. The precious memories of loved ones both those in spirit and those I still am traveling through life beside. My wish for you this Thanksgiving is that you find ways that bring that child-like wonder, love, laughter, and companionship to your heart and allow it to bubble to the surface of your being.
This year, I am having an early dinner with my mom and some neighbors before heading to pet visits. Have a wonderful thanksgiving!
