Soul Food

My mom sent me an email with an essay she wrote some years ago about our family's Thanksgiving celebrations. I think it captures perfectly the essence of what Thanksgiving is really all about, so with her permission I am sharing it here:

It started with a turkey served on a Thursday in late November. A day off from school and work, a football game on TV and maybe even a parade. And we were thankful! Like my children the holiday grew. They came home from college and we added the card games; they married and brought spouses and Pictionary took hold. Grandchildren appeared at the table with the turkey and ever-multiplying side dishes of yams, cranberry salsa and bread pudding. Little heads began to pop up at game time and were dealt a hand or two. Those little heads grew and so did the turkey.

Extensions were added to the table, now laden with pumpkin soup, colorful vegetable dishes and enormous bowls of dressing. Hands joined in thanks often included aunts and uncles from the East Coast and friends who had become like family. Golden-orange fall leaves with names carefully scripted in childish pen adorned each place setting. Everyone helped and even the work was fun. Tables were joined to accommodate the ever-expanding group and dishes were carefully laid on bright tablecloths. Candles and crystal goblets and a cornucopia of fall flowers all heralded this as a special occasion.

The day would not contain all we had to say to one another and soon became a weekend. Sleeping bags, portable cribs, bicycles and eventually golf clubs were wrenched from the depths of station wagons along with jambalaya and cheesecake and a few choice bottles of wine.

A golf tournament? We rallied at dawn on Friday and teamed up for a nine hole round of best ball. No experience required—fun mandatory. We laughed until we were in danger of wetting our pants—then we went home for turkey sandwiches, more pumpkin pie and naps. We needed to be ready for the evening activities, which frequently extended far into the night.

A Thursday in November can hold the kind of memories that sustain us through life’s changes. The connections we make with each other as we play are deep and lasting and they warm us in the darker days of winter. Our family tradition of gathering to share our most-favored holiday has grown and changed just as we have. Although the food is always delicious and a focus in all our prepartion, we are fed more certainly by the knowledge that we are there simply to be with one another. There are no gifts to detract from this simple essence. We are family and proud to acknowledge our life-long connection; physical, emotional and spiritual. We celebrate each other and toast our common journey.

All this and turkey too!

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

This is an original post to Silicon Valley Moms Blog.