The Thanksgiving lunch we used to have with Nan was much more lively. My great uncle; who was mentioned in my HW 17 post, passed away in 2004, leaving Nan very alone [because they never had any children]. In 2007, Nan's last sister, my grandma Eleanor, died from complications of colon cancer and a dislocated hip. The only blood relatives my aunt has left are my dad, his brother, and me. Thanksgiving lunch used to be much more "extravagant" (though we still ordered out). We would actually set the table and sit in the den and talk before our feast. As there are less people for her to be thankful for; her meals become less "enjoyable".
The meal we have with my mom's side of the family is much more of a traditional Thanksgiving. When my grandpa was still around we had dinner at my grandparent's house. But in 2008, my grandma was recovering from surgery at a rehabilitation center over Thanksgiving. I don't remember much about it, I think that we stopped at a deli on the way over and picked up sandwiches. My grandma's illness effected our regular Thanksgiving routine. Instead of having a turkey dinner in a home we ate sandwiches in an unfamiliar place.
But for the past two Thanksgivings, we have spent our time at my aunt Joanne's house. This year she got an organic turkey; as requested by my cousin, Jeremy. For sides she made mashed sweet potato and butternut squash, yellow and green beans, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, mushroom barley soup, vegetarian stuffing and meat stuffing. I don't think that my family really cares about the "giving thanks" aspect of Thanksgiving. We attempted to have a toast; someone said something along the lines of, "I am thankful to have all of us together as a family"; and then we drank the artificially flavored sparkling pear cider.
My two cousins, Jeremy and Daniel, are known very well in our family for their eating habits. I think Daniel reffered to Jeremy as "the beast" at one point or another. Daniel and his wife had already had Thanksgiving dinner with her parents, so they just tried the stuffing. Jeremy on the other hand kept going. I don't know how many servings of Turkey he had, but everyone at the table was done eating and he was still going. When he was finally done he did some stretching and rubbed his belly. Everything that my aunt made was delicious; people wanted to keep eating but they just didn't have room for anything else. Food pleasure wasn't the main attraction of this meal though; there was a lot of conversation and rarely a moment of silence. If people weren't stuffing their mouths they were talking, and sometimes, they attempted to do both.
We did watch the football game after dessert (pumpkin bread and fresh fruit crumble). Only a few people were really into the game though. Some of us looked through old photo albums and talked about late family members. My family's Thanksgiving isn't necessarily based on thanks nor the pleasure of food. It's more based on simply being with family.
The meal we have with my mom's side of the family is much more of a traditional Thanksgiving. When my grandpa was still around we had dinner at my grandparent's house. But in 2008, my grandma was recovering from surgery at a rehabilitation center over Thanksgiving. I don't remember much about it, I think that we stopped at a deli on the way over and picked up sandwiches. My grandma's illness effected our regular Thanksgiving routine. Instead of having a turkey dinner in a home we ate sandwiches in an unfamiliar place.
But for the past two Thanksgivings, we have spent our time at my aunt Joanne's house. This year she got an organic turkey; as requested by my cousin, Jeremy. For sides she made mashed sweet potato and butternut squash, yellow and green beans, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, mushroom barley soup, vegetarian stuffing and meat stuffing. I don't think that my family really cares about the "giving thanks" aspect of Thanksgiving. We attempted to have a toast; someone said something along the lines of, "I am thankful to have all of us together as a family"; and then we drank the artificially flavored sparkling pear cider.
My two cousins, Jeremy and Daniel, are known very well in our family for their eating habits. I think Daniel reffered to Jeremy as "the beast" at one point or another. Daniel and his wife had already had Thanksgiving dinner with her parents, so they just tried the stuffing. Jeremy on the other hand kept going. I don't know how many servings of Turkey he had, but everyone at the table was done eating and he was still going. When he was finally done he did some stretching and rubbed his belly. Everything that my aunt made was delicious; people wanted to keep eating but they just didn't have room for anything else. Food pleasure wasn't the main attraction of this meal though; there was a lot of conversation and rarely a moment of silence. If people weren't stuffing their mouths they were talking, and sometimes, they attempted to do both.
We did watch the football game after dessert (pumpkin bread and fresh fruit crumble). Only a few people were really into the game though. Some of us looked through old photo albums and talked about late family members. My family's Thanksgiving isn't necessarily based on thanks nor the pleasure of food. It's more based on simply being with family.
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