As we celebrate another Thanksgiving holiday today, it is not lost on me how blessed I am and how blessed my family is. This year represents a first for Marcy and I though, and as a result I can't help but feel bitter sweet about today.In our fifteen years of being married, today represents our first Thanksgiving with just our family and no extended family. It was very strange to be without either one of our parents or siblings around, but at the same time it was something special to have a quiet (as much as it can be in our house) day with just the six of us. I am very thankful that we have such great family to miss though and look forward to seeing them all in just a few weeks.
As I found myself missing our Oregon and Washington family today, we all shared stories from Thanksgivings past about family. I realized what an impact my Aunt Gail had on me and our Thanksgiving Day traditions within our family. I didn't really have Grandparents that lived near me while I was growing up, the closest thing I had was my great-aunt and uncle, Gail and Bill, who lived a few hours from us. We spent every Thanksgiving with them at their home in Hermiston, OR. Food was always an emphasis, but not in the way it traditionally is. I have never really liked turkey, so Thanksgiving day dinner has never really been a highlight for me, but my Aunt Gail put out a spread of food starting early in the morning and extending into the evening that we all just grazed on all day, to the point we were always stuffed by dinner time. It's this type of snack food spread of cheese, crackers, dips, veggies, shrimp cocktail, etc that I think of when I think Thanksgiving. Those were some of my favorite holiday memories, our family in Hermiston with my Aunt Gail and Uncle Bill.
We continue this food tradition in our family today, and as I grazed on all the great food all day I was very thankful for my Aunt Gail and that her memory lives on through the holidays. That we ALL could be so fortunate to have something as simple as a cheese ball carry on our legacy!
