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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Thanksgiving Reunion

Did you have your fill of leftover turkey in the aftermath of the Thanksgiving holiday?
There were no casserole leftover dishes, turkey pot pies or turkey soup meals for us.

Why? Because we celebrated the holiday with family members by dining at a restaurant. Last year, we were in NJ for what turned out to be my mother's last holiday celebration as she passed away a few weeks later in late December. This year, we traveled to PA to celebrate with my brother and his family.

As poignant as that holiday season later turned out, this year Thanksgiving started the season off better because my brother and I shared it together. For reasons too personal to detail here, we (sadly) had not celebrated any holiday together in many years. This year was different as we not only dined together, but were truly thankful to be together once again. 

There was sadness that we could not share this long-overdue reunion with our late mother. And, there was some smiles too when my brother remarked at dinner: "I can just hear mom saying why didn't you invite me too?" We both knew she would not have wanted to miss a holiday celebration with her family. 

She would have enjoyed that comment too. It's moments like this shared with family that bring a smile as we remember family and friends. They are with us in spirit and always in our hearts and memories.

That said, we had a wonderful reunion. Admittedly, it was a long trip for us, but this celebration was one we would't have missed sharing with these family members.

But we do miss not having any turkey leftovers, so we're cooking one here at home next week. Yes, that bearded fellow is Grenville who's getting ready for the long and snowy winter days to come here in NH. 

(He left his sleigh and reindeer outside the restaurant at Thanksgiving.)

14 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Nice beard, Grenville.

We are finally going to cook our turkey remains into stew today. They have been in the freezer since mid October.

Country Gal said...

Our Turkey from our Thanksgiving is all gone but come Christmas we will have another one and a big ham to so lots of left overs then . Glad all had a wonderful reunion . Lovely photos ! Thanks for sharing . Have a good day !

Out on the prairie said...

Nice to get together for the holiday.I served at a free meal and was too tired to eat any bird.

MadSnapper said...

Glad you got to spend time with your brother. on the rare occasion i get to visit with my brother we talk about what mother would say or do or want to do...

William Kendall said...

It's good that you got together.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a very special Thanksgiving and one that your Mother would have been so happy about. I love the pics you have shared. Enjoy that turkey and all the leftovers next week!

Anonymous said...

I am glad you reunited with your brother. Family ties are very important to me too.

Emma Springfield said...

The picture shows a beautiful family. It is good that you and your brother finally were able to celebrate a holiday together. Hopefully there will be many more of them.

diane b said...

So glad to hear that you had a happy family Thanksgiving. A touching story.

Connie said...

How wonderful that you had a holiday reunion with your brother and family. It sounds like you made some very special memories. Dining at a restaurant always sounds good to me. It sure saves stressing over cooking the holiday meal, cleaning up afterward, and tiring of the leftovers.

Ginnie said...

I was expecting a recipe for a good "left-over" meal !! but I'm glad you had a good Thanksgiving...now on to the rest of the Holiday season.

Doris said...

Love the pictures! I'm happy you traveled to Lancaster to celebrate Thanksgiving....and thrilled to pieces that we were able to have you visit us, too! Thanks for taking the time!

DeniseinVA said...

Lovely photos. So happy you were with your brother and his family this Thanksgiving. A very special celebration indeed.

CountryDew said...

Family reconciliation. How wonderful! I am so glad that this happened for you.