Thanksgiving Night

It is after 8:30 as I type and our friends have gone home, taking half of our cooked food with them, and leaving half of their cooked food here with us. We all had a wonderful dinner.... way too much food, but isn't that always the way with Thanksgiving?

Just like last year, we started off with a first-course salad and a loaf of hot bread from our bread machine. I was thinking that for next year, I won't even bother with the salad, or with anything for a first course. Unless we do a shrimp cocktail.... that would be nice before dinner. But that's next year's problem so I don't have to think about that now.

It was so nice for me not to have to bother cooking that turkey..... S cooked it on his barbeque and it was delicious. He put some fresh lemon and rosemary inside the turkey and it turned and turned on that rotisserie until it was moist and tender. I had just one bite of the turkey, to see how it tasted on a barbeque. I don't care how that bird is cooked-- I'm just not into turkey --- but it was very good.

My husband's oyster stuffing was the best he's ever made.... along with the fresh oysters that he usually puts in, he also added some smoked oysters and that gave it a great taste. And the mashed potatoes--- he put in three different kinds of cheese this year, and everyone had seconds. (I just had one bite of those--- I'm not into white potatoes either). The sweet potato casserole was excellent, as was L's corn pudding and homemade cranberry-apple sauce.

Inbetween dinner and dessert, my husband had set up a treasure hunt for C.... she loves to do that.... finding the first clue, then the next, going all around the house in search of what my husband has hidden for her. This year's treasure was an 8x10" photo of C's beloved Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros.

Then dessert.... pumpkin pie with whipped cream, apple pie with ice cream. I had a sliver of both pies, without either of the white stuff on top. Both were delicious, but I forgot to warm up the apple pie. I had intended to put the entire pie into the oven, then totally forgot to do that. Oh well.... they will all remind me of that next year.

The kitchen and dining room are all cleaned up now.... and I even took the Thanksgiving decorations off of the sideboard and put up the table-top Christmas tree.... it's a pretty one, decorated with tiny Victorian dolls and miniature teacups and teapots.

And now that I'm finally sitting down, I feel like I could go right to sleep as I'm typing. As soon as our friends left, I took off my high-heeled sandals and put on flat shoes so I could clean up quicker. The high heels are cuter, but the flat shoes are more efficient. When I think back to years ago when I was working and wearing high heels all day long, I honestly don't know how I did it. And I didn't have a desk job.... I was on my feet for most of the day, walking back and forth around a library, going up and down steps and between buildings. I still love high heels, and I wear them a lot, but I know I couldn't walk around in them now for eight or ten hours straight.

How did I get to talking about high heels? I started talking about turkey.

I spoke to my dad yesterday.... he sounded just fine, and said he'd be having Thanksgiving dinner downstairs in the dining room of the assisted-living facility where he lives. He has two children who live not far from there (children from his second marriage).... so of course I wondered why one of them couldn't pick him up and let him share their Thanksgiving. I try not to get into those discussions with him. I never had much contact with that part of his family because my dad's second wife didn't want that, and I don't want to start now, even though my dad's wife has passed away.

I also called my Aunt Dolly and wished her a Happy Thanksgiving.... she was going out for dinner with my cousin R and her mom. Just the three of them. I have so many cousins up on Long Island, and of course I had to wonder why they couldn't invite my cousin and my two aunts to one of their homes for the holiday meal. And when I think back to when my Aunt Dolly cooked for the entire family years ago.... at least twenty-five people in my grandmother's dining room and kitchen..... and now, no one up there invites my Aunt Dolly to dinner. It's enough to make me scream, but I don't say a word. I'm too far away to do anything about that, so I just stay out of it.

When I said goodbye to my dad, the last thing we said to one another was "I love you." When my Aunt Dolly and I were saying our goodbyes, she and I also said "I love you" to one another. I choked up at that point, because in just one split second, the thought went through my mind that in all these years of my life, I don't remember my mother ever telling me that she loved me. I can remember many times when I told her that I loved her, but she never said those words back to me, and eventually I stopped saying them to her. I wanted to call my Aunt Dolly back, to ask her why my mother left my dad after just eleven years of marriage. I've heard my dad's side of that story, I've heard my mother's side. Somewhere, the truth is hidden in there. Talk about a treasure hunt... that's one that will never be solved.

I wonder how old I will be before a holiday comes along when my eyes don't puddle up with tears because I'm wishing that 1961 could be done over again.... my mother would've just stayed married to my dad and we would've stayed in the big house in Woodhaven instead of moving into the tiny apartment in Jamaica. We would have remained a family.

Families really need to stay together. Mothers should tell their kids that they're loved.

This is getting sad. I should delete most of the above, but I won't.

It's been a great Thanksgiving and I've got a lot to be thankful for.