“Saguaro”  with a private collector

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It brings back so many memories of wonderful times with family and friends.  As a kid, I remember going to my Aunt Lydia’s, I thought she was the most glamorous women I ever knew.  She lived in a brownstone in Detroit, back in the day when Detroit was a prosperous place.  Her dinning table was always set so stunning with golden rimmed plates, a huge floral arrangement and place tags. Of course at my table, where the cousins and I sat, we had plastic plates and little turkey decorations with crayons to draw on the paper tablecloth.  I couldn’t wait to become an adult, and sit at that beautiful table. My uncle John, was a hunter and besides the turkey we would have fresh venison made into meatballs in a sumptuous sauce.  Mincemeat pies, pumpkin deserts and side dishes galore were brought by all the other cooks in the family.  Uncle John would always toast to lasting family and friendships with Champaign in fluted glasses.

Years later I remember traveling to Illinois to visit my brother Rex and his family, he  lived on a horse farm.  Ginny, my sister-in-law, was a tremendous cook and she would put on a feed to beat all feeds.  Fresh from the garden fruits and vegetables and fresh slaughtered turkey and goose.  After the meal we would ride horses, to shake off the tryptophan coma that we were all experiencing.

Next I remember the Thanksgivings that I would host.  My first turkey that took an extra hour to cook, my children and their cousins sitting at the side table while us adults congregated around the dinning room table.  My attempt at trying to mimic all the great memories I had stored in my heart.  Many years we would invite, singles from church or my husbands USAF squadron, when extended family couldn’t be with us.  It was always heartwarming to sit around the fireplace and learn about others lives.

I remember the first years that my grown kids started hosting some of the Thanksgivings, and we would travel from California to Arizona.  The year we had Tofu-turkey when my boys were vegetarian.  The year that my daughter’s oven stopped working and we had to cook the turkey at my son’s home so we watched hours of DVD,s waiting for the turkey to get done.

Now I no longer host Thanksgiving, it has officially passed to the younger generation.  Thanksgiving is hosted by my daughter-in-law. New traditions have changed how we go about things.  No more sitting at one table, it is buffet style, and sit were you want, inside or outside around the swimming pool with roasted  and deep-fried turkey on the menu.  A huge array of wonderful foods still grace the serving table by all the extended relatives and friends,and I marvel at the joy in the room as scads of grandkids run in and out.

Thanksgiving has changed through the years but the love of family and friends has not.  I cherish every moment of the day and feel so blessed for all that God has given our family and friends.  I hope that your Thanksgiving will be all you hope for, and shared with those you love.  Now go grab the grub…