Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite Holiday and not just because of the obvious reason that I have a nationally endorsed excuse to eat tons of food. I love the fact that my extended family comes to stay with us, that we play all my favorite card games and stay up late talking and drinking wine. I love the cross country ski trips and the way that we take time every year to give Thanks in a new way. So needless to say, I was more than a little surprised to find myself unexcited to head home for Thanksgiving this year. "Surely you're just tired after travel season." I told myself. "And 8 hours really is a long time to be in the car by yourself," chimed in my happy to keep LN in denial voice. Bolstered by such logical and encouraging reassurances I ignored my growing unease and headed home.

And there was much fun to be had:


Good food and good company...



Stunning natural beauty...



Creative forms of exercise...




And even a little impromptu Holiday Dance Party action.

However, I still found it difficult to be home. It's painful to watch people I care about make the same bad choices year after year and it's discouraging to find myself just as immature as I was the last Thanksgiving. And the one before that. And the one before that... Family is hard.

I find it hard enough to exists as myself on a daily basis with all my emotions and thoughts, religious convictions and limited life goals. Then, during the holidays, I mix in 8 other people with their emotions and goals and convictions and weaknesses and things get complicated quickly. Just deciding what's for dinner becomes a major task. Aunt Super Health Freak is insisting on stir frying everything in coconut oil because it's healthier, while Mr. I Haven't Eaten A Vegetable Voluntarily Since 1953 and I'm Not About to Start Now is insisting on bacon fried hash browns. This brings out tears and a moral lecture from the Vegetarian followed by an uproar from the Non-Dairy contingent (of which I am a member) insisting that regardless of what is cooked, soy milk be used to substitute for any dairy products in the recipe. Never mind that two of the eight family members just had surgery and can barely open their mouths to eat in the first place.

Mostly, we make it through.

Someone suggests making tofu sausage to mix with the non-dairy stir fry vegetables and someone else offers to mash some potatoes. Uncle King of the Kitchen whips up a little gravy and before we know it we have a meal that everyone can eat. After we finish everyone helps themselves to two pieces of pie for dessert.

And maybe that's what family really is. A messy group of people that somehow keep finding a way to get everyone fed and occassionally agree on the important things in life; like pie.