TurkeyTime

If he were smart, this turkey would keep under cover for a couple more days!

It’s time for another Thanksgiving celebration.  My daughter has to work on Thursday, so we’ll postpone our traditional dinner for the weekend, when we can relax and enjoy it.  It will be a small celebration, just the three of us with the possibility of one guest.  To be honest, I prefer it that way.

As a child, I always looked forward to a large family get-together.  Back then, it meant tons of my favorite foods and hours playing with my cousins.  As I got older, my viewpoint changed. 

I saw how much work was involved for my grandmother and noticed how little some of the adults did to help her.  Worse yet, was the subtle undercurrent of animosity between some of those smiling faces.  As a child, this had flown over my head, but by the time I reached my teens, I didn’t need a professional translation service to understand the hostility behind their carefully phrased words.    I vowed to do things differently, when I grew up.

As an adult, I hosted a few holiday dinners and though I enjoyed some aspects of them, I was usually more than happy, when they were over.  I spent a few holidays alone, but that wasn’t much fun either.  Now I enjoy most of the holiday festivities at home with my immediate family; the same people whose company I truly enjoy every day of the year.  We sometimes invite a couple of guests; people who are genuinely happy to share the occasion with us.  Dinners are much simpler than the feasts of my youth.  We pick a couple of traditional favorites for each holiday and I find that I enjoy them far more than the heavily laden tables of my youth.  There’s a lot less preparation and cleanup, more time to enjoy relaxation and conversation, and I never feel more stuffed than the turkey.

Wishing my readers a happy Thanksgiving Day surrounded by those who truly love you.