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I'm a 50 something daughter, sister, wife, aunt, mother and friend. I have a husband and a son with my parents living in my basement. Keeping it together through menopause, the teenage years and the golden years. I hope you visit often.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Giving Thanks!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it is always a time of reflection.  Where is the large platter to put the turkey on? Do I have enough forks to make it through dinner and dessert? Should I use my good china, or chinet? Should I assign seats or let the personalities fall as they may? What channel is the Macys parade on and why is there a parade in Hawaii? These are all age old questions. It also is a time to look back on Thanksgivings past. In our house, we always celebrated with the Seamon side of the family. My father is one of four siblings, and we would rotate who would host Thanksgiving each year. Everyone would come early, Dad and his brothers would go hunting with Grandpa Henry, then we would eat mid afternoon. There is a 10 year age range between the cousins. Rob is the oldest and I am the youngest. When the older cousins made it to driving age, the afternoon would be spent at the movies or bowling. That is how the "older" cousins would spend the day. My cousin Perry and I were always left behind because we were "too little"to tag along. By the time we were old enough to go, nobody wanted to. Then there was the kids table. That was always a great place to be. There was never a real food fight, although we did come close one time. My cousin Joan asked Rob to pass the butter, so he picked it up and threw it at her.  That didn't really go over that well, but it was entertaining. Then again, I wasn't the one having butter thrown at me. There was always stories. Some true, some not so much. When Lee was in the military, Thanksgiving was spent with friends instead of family. One memorable one was when we lived on Guam. A typhoon had come through a few days before and the island had lost power. The turkey was cooked on the grill, as were the sides. We sat down to eat and asked the youngest to say a prayer, Liam asked for the electric to come back on. Just as he finished, on came the lights! Everyone was stunned. Then there was a power surge and we were out of power for another day. As we changed, so did Thanksgiving. We now celebrate at our house, and I still have a cousin or two show up. Nobody wants to go hunting and football is on instead of the parade. I'm still not sure where my platter is and I will borrow forks. But some things don't change. There will be as many desserts as there are sides. There will be people on the couch in a "food coma". There will be laughter, there will be stories and this year, there will be a new baby. Another generation to enter the crazy world of my family. The biggest thing that won't change, is the feeling. The togetherness that comes with sitting around a table and sharing a connection. I hope that you connect with someone this Thanksgiving. Take Care!

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