Our Thanksgiving

Today we are having Thanksgiving with my in-laws in Los Angeles.

It is not quite the same as the Thanksgiving I grew up with but I am getting used to it.

In my mom's house we always had more people over than we room at the table for. It was really about the food, of which there were huge amounts. My grandpa's oyster dressing was always one of my favorites and I was lucky if my grandmother made her key lime pie.

If we said prayers my grandmother lead them. I always wished we would also do something more soulful, like all talk about what we were thankful for.

At my in-law's Thanksgiving often seems like it is just another reason to get together. There is no praying because it is not a Jewish holiday. But I am going to try to change that this year as it is a harvest festival and we should thank God.

Including me and Z there are only six of us in the family now. Pere had two olders sisters and they both passed away, one to cancer and one to some complications with her liver. They both had husbands but they are out of the picture now, I think they might be remarrried even.

If they were still with us there would be ten in the family, not six. Also Pere's grandfather passed away last spring. This is the first Thanksgiving without him.

Pere's family sometimes has old family friends over for Thankgiving. This year they are having Pere's godparents and their son over. So there will be nine of us all together.

This year Pere is making a goose to go along with a smaller turkey. He wanted to make a giblets gravy but he was worried that most people wouldn't eat it. I told him to go ahead and do it and that I would eat it. :)

The Menu us
Turkey with stuffing and gravy
Goose with stuffing and gravy
My green bean casserole
My yams with marshmallow topping (I got this recipe from my sil Kelly)
Bread
Salad
Pies

What I am Thankful for:

My husband, my daughter, my family, my health, Pere's job, homeschooling, being alive here and now, freedom, my friends, things that make me think, things that make me grow, laughter, being able to learn, plenty of books, music and food, the internet... well, lots and lots of things. :)