Thankful 2021

[tedwords]

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."  George Burns

 About this quote. I really don't mean it. It just made me laugh.

This year, for the first time since 2018, Corb and I hosted the family Thanksgiving. We have an agreement with my brother Tommy to alternate years, and last year was kind of a pass, what with the pandemic and all, but the year before that, my brother hosted the world's worst Thanksgiving, so after a three year gap, it was back to us. Thank God.

It was kind of a guest list mess. At first, we expected it was going to be my family and Corb's, but then Corb's aunt and uncle dropped out as their kids refuse to get vaccinated (and we won't let them come over until they do) and then his brother and family decided to have their own, and then my brother and his family decided they wanted to do it on their own, but then a day later had second thoughts and decided to come after all and bring a friend, and then Corb's mom wasn't sure about Jim, but then he decided he was going and they brought Corb's OTHER aunt Carol, and then Ashes and I had a mini-fight and she was't going, but that got resolved...and...

Phew. I'm tired just typing all that.

What I will say about living with a set designer is that he approaches everything...well, like a set design. Which has made for a tiring month. The week before Thanksgiving, the Eldredge Players held their first live performance in almost two years, meaning we spent the week putting up and then deconstructing an actual set. 

And then, on the Monday after, we started putting together the Thanksgiving set: this table goes here. Oh, we need to get a new table from Nick. New chairs. New covers. Clean our house, top to bottom, after two years of it not being seen by people. Get out the Thanksgiving linens. Prepare two turkeys, stuffing, potatoes, turnips and squash, carrots, gravy, time everything two starting three days in advance.

Oof. Just got tired again...

...well, anyway, thanks to a lot of planning, I am happy to report the day went off without a hitch. No food disasters, nothing even remotely approaching the Laurie Thanksgiving...the worst I can say is that the potatoes tasted a little burned, and I kind of liked that taste. And everyone had a great time. A great dinner followed by an evening of games (particularly Scrabble...we are mean Scrabble players). It was so nice, in fact, that we invited them all over next week, to celebrate my birthday by having Chinese food and playing more games. Same cast of characters.

I will say, three years later, there are noticeable changes. My dad, having just survived a heart attack, was not half as confident as he usually is. My mom, two years post chemo, is noticeably forgetful (I spent a half an hour doing a ridiculous kazoo act, something she somehow completely forgot by the next day). My brother Tommy, leukemia free but post-chemo, is still in a lot of pain and was clearly high during much of the day. My sister Kerrie, having gone through a double mastectomy, does not have the stamina she used to. Lisa's son Trevor, who my sister Laurie recently outed during the summer, came to the party looking far gayer than I have ever seen him, which I loved. And Jim, having been deemed to only require palliative care and placed on a feeding tube, seemed the same old talkative Jim we love, playing crib and having a ball, and now eating baby food and ice cream, despite being told he would never eat again. HE is amazing.

The big long Thanksgiving table is changing again, I think. But I am so very grateful  we were able to do THIS all over again, at least one more time, this year, and eat good food, laugh over old jokes, and play a few more Scrabble matches. Please give me a few more years of this, wouldja? 

And as I sit here typing this, after one day of rest, the Thanksgiving set has been taken down and Corb is busy putting the Christmas set up. Last year we had eight Christmas trees. This year, nine. 

Dammit. Tired again...