Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It's the one guaranteed time per year that my extended family comes together. We're all nutty and we are truly blessed to enjoy each others company in a way I know to be rare. Everyone gets along with everyone, and we have a blast.

This year, I came home with no blackmail video. I was there without Scott, so I had more responsibility for the kids than usual. (I say "more" rather than "total" because my parents and aunts and even younger cousins did help out. They rock.) I can't blame it on that, totally, though. It was our first Thanksgiving since my grandpa died, and I just wanted to look around and soak it in a little. Our family.

We laughed as hard as we always do - although I don't think Aunt Nancy peed her pants, so I guess we didn't quite reach maximum hilarity, or maybe she just wasn't there for the funniest bits. We didn't play darn or poker, or finish the 1500 piece puzzle. We did drink gewurztraminer, Martinelli's, finish the fudge before the dinner leftovers, and make even faster work of the chocolate liqueurs. My girls tagged after their older girl cousins and Donovan learned 4 new names and made it clear that his favorite new buddy was my 13 year old cousin Andrew (ayyew). We teased the young (and the not-so-young!) about boyfriends and girlfriends, retold the favorite family stories, ribbed each other at every chance.

It was just like always, exactly the family my grandparents created. They're gone but they're always here, in our playfulness, our offbeat humor, our love for each other.