Feeling Thankful

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite celebration.  Even as a child i realized that it carried none of the angst of Christmas; that it was all about family.  Usually that meant just the four of us, but now and then the Grandparents would make the long drive to join us.

By college, my "family" grew to include the family of my BFF Elizabeth, who would whisk me off to Maryland to share the weekend with her exxuberant Italian family!  A weekend when gnocci and lasagna shared top billing with Tom.  (Telling you this requires me to explain that i went to college in a time when flying home for a four-day weekend was too expensive, and college girls did not have their own cars!)

As a young adult i seldom got to my nuclear family's for Thanksgiving, but those were the years whan "family" meant those who were not traveling.  You've been to those dinner - the ones where everyone brings a dish and someone else who doesn't have plans.  Those dinners where five people bring green bean casserole.  Those years when family swells to include lots of new folks - some of whom you may not know well or see again.  But still , family for one warm afternoon of football and dinner.

For the past 10 - 12 years Thanksgiving for us has been a trip to Hilton Head Island- initially to play tennis, but in recent years to share with our extended family.  Yesterday we were thinking of all the good times we have had here...  the year that James and Vandy came all the way from Albuquerque, and the times that Abbe and her husband have spent couple of days with us on their way to Florida to see their grandchildren.  And, the years that Elizabeth and Chuck have come up from Florida - recreating my college memories.  Or,recent visits with Dora and the Colonel, who last year introduced us to his project of documenting grave yards..

This year our family is spread to the winds with Elizabeth in Seattle meeting her new granddaughter, Abbe already in Florida, and Dora welcoming that handsome new son-in-law for the weekend.  So, we will celebrate small today, but drive to my brother's tomorrow for the weekend.

The rest of my family will be here today, too.  My blogger family.  And for all of you i give big thanks.