Nearly every Thanksgiving of my life has been spent around my parents’ oval dining room table. As the daughter who stayed at home, my mother played hostess to her far-flung siblings and their families who would often roll into town to spend the long weekend with my grandma Gringa and spend Thanksgiving dinner with us.
The drudgery of vacuuming the stairs (the worst job) and dusting every lick of furniture in the house was well offset with the anticipation of getting to see our beloved cousins. They were and still are the sort of cousins with whom you laugh so hard that milk comes out of your nostrils...much to the chagrin of the grown-ups.
Most years, along with family, we would have a few strays to dinner: newly divorced friends, exchange students, international university students, or friends whose families were just too far away. As we grew older, my dad would read from Capote’s The Thanksgiving Visitor. Certainly none of our non-family guests was an Odd Henderson bully, and none of our cousins or aunts qualified as a shy simpleminded Sook. Yet, the parallel of coming together – some family, some not – and looking for the best in each other – as when Sook trusts Odd to do the right thing – is unquestionably there.
Jim and I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend with family and friends. We hope that you will transfer a cornucopia of positive energy, good vibes, joy, and love to those around your table.
In love and light,
Lisa