Family Homes

Thanksgiving kicks off the “family season” and I love it!

All my grandkids (and their parents, of course) are under one roof – mine! There is noise, new aromas (some of the less pleasant ones emanating from the infants), new and old traditions. This is the time of year when anyone who arrived in the past 12 months makes his or her family debut.

But, this will be the first year in a while without four generations. We have new grandchildren to introduce but are missing my father-in-law. He will be a topic of conversation, of funny memories and old photos. Should I still serve pumpkin pie in his honor? He was the only one who really enjoyed it. Is it a sacrosanct tradition or should we start making new ones? Maybe we can do both.

We eat our holiday dinners in rooms filled with old family photos. On our walls, there are 100 framed pictures in black and white and sepia going back more than a century. Each season, we look at them with new stories and new reverence. We never really miss our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents because they’re right there with us.

Family is central to our celebrations. I am thankful that this year, we have two new people to initiate into the fold.