Thanksgiving 2011 was memorable because we were all together. For a refresher, my mother married Jim when I was around five and my sister Renee was four. Jim had two children, Brad and Alicia, who were just a little bit older than Renee and I Then a bit later my brother Jimmy came along, I was almost seven when he was born. So that's how my mom and Jim came to have five of us.
When we were all young, we were always together for Thanksgiving. Brad and Alicia lived with their mother, Kathy, but they always spent Thanksgiving with us. Even as we got older, before most of the kids came along, we still always got together for this holiday. Then later, as more kids came, and more distance came between us all, we fragmented and these days it is rare that we all come together.
So that is why this year was so special for me. Even if only for part of a day, a few hours really, we were all together again. And it felt really good.
And here we are, when everyone had arrived, in our sweet first moments of complete reunion.
It was really a happy day. And because I cannot pick favorites, I am sharing seventy bajillion pictures with some nice collaging.
Oh look, there's more:
Geez man, more pictures!
Other things I loved about the day:
Sarah's thanksgiving prayer that she was too embarrassed to read
The wine Alicia brought from her winery, Niner Wine Estates
How much the kids loved being with their cousins
Mom's dressing and the way we all work to put everything together
The kids playing football in the street
Mom & Jim's happiness at having the family together
The one big table that we made that stretched from my dining room through the entire living room
The placeholders Emily made that looked like little Mayflower boats
The love that bubbled out of everyone that day
And mostly, just being with my people
Great pics, Mel!
ReplyDelete