thanksgiving this year was everything i was looking forward to: traditions (peeling potatoes with my sister the night before while listening to christmas music, taking a post-dinner walk with the whole family, playing apples to apples with our cousins, and going to the movies together), noisy relatives, lots of laughter, + amazing food. it's a close contender for my favorite holiday because it brings us all together, and i have to say, there are some pretty great people related to us. my aunt brought a big box of old family photos that we all went through together. kristie joined us for thanksgiving for the very first time along with my brother's girlfriend (they provided live bluegrass music all night), and everything felt so complete. we ended the evening with my immediate family sitting around the fireplace with the lights off, laughing + talking together.
instead of saying a traditional grace this year, my mother + i changed a robert louis stevens poem a little and read that instead:
i hope that's the kind of thanksgiving you had, too.behold our family here assembled: we are thankful for this place in which we dwell, for the love that unites us, for the peace accorded us this day, for the hope with which we expect tomorrow, for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies that make our lives delightful, and for our friends in all parts of the earth. let peace abound in our small company.
