Happy Thanksgiving!

Bonjour tout le monde,
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we are carrying on a tradition that was started years ago by my parents.  My then husband's cousin had just married a woman from Mexico.  Her parents hadn't yet met him, and were coming up for Thanksgiving just for that purpose - and to spend time with their daughter and son, both of whom lived in California.  My parents had already invited Michael and his wife for dinner; when they learned that her parents were going to be here too, they didn't hesitate to extend the invitation to them also.  Her parents didn't speak any English, my parents and grandparents (who were still alive) didn't speak any Spanish. Neither do I, but Marcella and her brother spoke both, so we were good.

Marcella's parents weren't so hot on their daughter marrying a black man; all they knew about African-Americans is what they saw on television, which means that all they saw were gangsters, prostitutes and the like. Imagine their surprise when they sat down to share a turkey dinner with four generations of a family that looked nothing like they had ever seen.  The dinner was full of fun and laughter, with a lot of translation help from Marcella and her brother.  Our evening ended with hugs all around and a standing invitaiton to visit her parents in Mexico.

That Thanksgiving dinner said a lot about my parents, who always let me do what I wanted (within reason, you know...) and have always supported me.  My grandparents deserve some credit also; with my grandfather being a minister, the tradition of having others in one's home was ingrained in my mother and uncles.  These wonderful people welcomed total strangers into their home, because they were visitors, and also because they were related to good friends.  I still marvel at that dinner, and when I have a little time I will try to find a photo from that Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, I am blessed to have two of our five children, plus their spouses and significant others, my 96 year old dad, and close friends who are just like family.  I will stress over what tablecloths to use, how to arrange the table (or tables), and figure out an oven schedule to accomodate our cooking.  At the end of tomorrow evening, I will be very tired, and probably a little cranky (in that case, just hand me another glass of wine) but so happy that we had another successful Thanksgiving filled with love, laughter, and some really good food.
How about you?

from a long ago family meal - not sure if it is Thanksgiving