Happy Thanksgiving.

For the first 20 or so years of my life my Thanksgivings were extremely predictable.  Typically they were held at either my parents house, which was rare, or in a small town called Fall Branch where my father's parents lived.  My grandparents lived on a farm.  You would drive up a long gravel drive past an old spring house that was now a shed.  My grandfather would typically be sitting out on the carport and would give a wave when he saw us.  I can still picture this, they had a huge land yacht of a car which was a royal blue LTD and he would be sitting up close to the house probably trying to avoid all the hustle and bustle inside the house all while remaining within earshot in case my grandmother needed him.
There were two ways into the house you could either enter to your right and go straight into the dining room or go straight ahead into the heart of their home which was the kitchen.  We always had 12 people, and there would be at least that many desserts lined up on the freezer chest sitting right next to the kids table.  Cruel I tell you.  Food would be everywhere.  My grandmother would bake her own bread, roast a turkey, do a ham, all of the vegetables from her garden she was a spit fire.  She was no more than 5 feet tall shorter probably but her hair gave her an edge.
I can still tell you where everyone would be.  My Aunts would be helping my grandmother, my Uncle Tom would be reading the paper in the living room along with my Uncle Melvin and my cousin would be waiting on us to arrive so we could play.  We would eat, clean up and enjoy each other's company.  It was the only place we had to be that day and there was no rush to do anything else.  I had never heard of Black Friday and it was always the most relaxing of holidays.
This all changed once I got married.  By the time I got married my Grandparents had long since been moved into a nursing home and my Grandfather had passed.  The Thanksgiving festivities on my side had changed to being at my parents house so that my husband and I could participate because this is how it went for a few years....11 am eat a full Thanksgiving meal with my parents, 3 pm drive across town to eat a full Thanksgiving meal with my husband's grandmother and father, 6 pm go to my husband's mother's house for another full meal and movie.  Gone was the rest and relaxation, gone was the easiness of Thanksgiving.
It's funny how life changes and how you can vividly remember some details of your life.  The smell of my grandmother's kitchen, the mental picture of my Grandfather awaiting our arrival.  Of the original 12 in my life there are only 9 that remain.  Now granted we have added about 12 more, but with people living all over we can't all get together.  I hope that my children have positive lovely memories of their early Thanksgivings. Children don't sense the stress and frustration of meal planning and clashing personalities.  I pray that my children will someday be able to look back on their childhood and only remember the magical.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!