Thanksgiving blisses me out. It makes my husband so happy. It's the holiday-season kick off. I remember anew that I can cook. The parade is on.
I started to think about thanksgivings...
The year in Boston ..the first year I made the dinner by myself. Robb's family came to our first apartment in Foxboro where I clogged the disposal with potato peels. Mattie was only a few months old and Matt and Karen were still just dating.
The second year in Boston I was about 8 weeks pregnant. Nauseous. And somehow I was talked into wearing a pilgrim costume at church. What the heck was that about? We had Thanksgiving at the Lathams with the Derfelts and confessed that we were leaving to take a new church in Michigan AND that I was pregnant. It was the least I ever ate on Thanksgiving!
The year we had a tragi-comic Thanksgiving in Virginia with Robb's parents. We played football in the back yard and my father in law (who we call Poopsie) tripped and hit the fence and cut his forehead open. Or the epic year we ran short of mashed potatoes and a pint-sized Mattie mooched them from her aunts and uncles.
Our first year in the house in Michigan and my parents came. I had two tiny kids and was (foolishly) determined to have a grown-up meal. I put the kids to bed early after feeding them and planned a fancy meal for just the grown ups. The kids refused to go to sleep and we ended up eating our first course soup with kids on our laps. My parents were utterly amused.
The year at the Hollyhock house here in Arkansas. When Courtney, Ron and Dora came bearing an insane amount of dessert. And I clogged the disposal with potato peels (are you sensing a theme here?) The curious plumbing sent water shooting down the walls of the living room from the ceiling. Our hosts were gone and I went screaming around trying to find a ladder yelling "We broke the house! We broke the house!"
The year Mattie was ten and awash in furious tween disdain. She single-handedly wrecked the peace and tranquility of the day. Which alerted her to her own personal power and became a turning point for us as parents. Handy for this year when we have another 10 year old on our hands.
Which takes me back to my own child-hood. The year we all had chicken pox and the only poultry my mom had in the house was a DUCK.
I love Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful. For all it. And for all that lies ahead.
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