giving thanks

This time of year, I miss my parents. I miss being in their house, with a ton of people lined up to come over. Yes, I even miss helping out in the kitchen, where - among other things - it was usually my job to make the pies. Sure, I help out with the Thanksgiving feastivities here, and they are mighty good, but I miss those days.

Those are the holidays I remember. The turkey would barely fit into the roaster pan, and after the foil was wrapped around bird and stuffing, the lid would rest happily atop the foil, more like a hat than an actual lid. (it wouldn't meet the top of the roaster pan until after the turkey was taken out)

The house smelled fabulous. The friends and family members would chat and visit and there would usually be a TV set up in the living room for the football game while we set out the long, red table in the den. That would be the "adult" table, while the kids made do with the dinner table in the kitchen.

We would laugh about Aunt Peg, and Uncle KC, who would schedule as many Thanksgiving dinners as they could fit in, and feast at every one. It was Aunt Peg who fussed at my mom one year, because she had chosen to get nice paper plates to eat on that year, and Aunt Peg wanted the good china. (not that she was helping with the clean-up, mind you)

Now, I'm not complaining about the Thanksgivings we have. Far from it. Tomorrow, we will take turkey, dressing, and some other goodies to Alamogordo to visit our cousins, and eat with them. We did it last year, and had such a good time. If we hadn't done all those past get-togethers, we probably wouldn't have ever thought of doing any such thing last year, either. It pays off in memories to hold, and memories to build.

So, thanks, Mom, Dad, and all of those family members, and friends who still feel like family members. Thanks for giving me some warm memories to hold on to. Thanks for setting a fabulous example for creating memories for passing forward as well. Things change, and yet, they somehow stay the same, as well.