Much to Be Thankful For
We are still recovering from a whirlwind holiday weekend - actually, a whirlwind holiday week. We spent a stunningly beautiful Thanksgiving Day at the midtown apartment of some dear family friends of my husband's. We sat at a gorgeous table, ate a delicious meal off of their wedding china and had a conversation that involved listening to what other people said AND letting them finish their sentences. They even had salad! (I had to turn it down when offered. I have never eaten anything green on Thanksgiving, and I don't intend to start now.)
It was a great day. At the same time, I felt a little twinge whenever I thought about my big, loud, extended family seated at a long table across the country, shouting over each other and scarfing stuffing and canned cranberry sauce off turkey-stamped paper plates. The joy of the expanded family you inherit when you get married is tempered by the fact that you spend less time with the family you grew up with. I wish there was a way to make it all work - to somehow shrink the country so that it would be possible to eat a mid-afternoon Thanksgiving meal with one side in New York and join the relatives in California for leftovers in the evening.
We went around the table to say what we were thankful for. Apart from our hosts' charming 4-year-old daughter, who became the first person in American history to give thanks for Coney Island, everyone's gratitude revolved around people - new relatives who have come into our lives via marriage, parents who are still able to travel long distances for the holidays, spouses who have stuck by one another through the ups and downs of the year. I'm grateful for all of those things too. Just as I am that there are places on both sides of the country that I can call home.
Posted on Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009
