Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I went to my parents' home about 4:00 in the afternoon to enjoy a pleasant dinner with them and my 75-year-old uncle Dave.

The dinner was quiet and small. We ate turkey, ham, green beans, cole slaw, biscuits, yams, cranberry sauce, dressing, and biscuits, with pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. I know, it sounds like a lot, but my mom has become quite adept over the years in creating a relatively stress free Thanksgiving meal.

The chatter over dinner was familial and friendly, with the murmuring of the local news in the background. My uncle talked a lot about his dog. I promised my parents a christmas gift list (for myself) and received one sent by Alicia to my parents.

Tomorrow, they are off for a week in Palm Springs, at their time share. Their anniversary is coming up shortly. Number 35! Wow...

Not that many years ago, our Thanksgiving parties were large and swarming with life. My parents would invite Alicia, Dorene, and Brian, and their families filled with small children. My uncle would be there, and maybe Camelia, and the kids would run all over the house.

For quite a few years, my parents and I would drive up to the home of Mémé and Pépé, first when they lived in Hawthorn, and later in 29 Palms. They loved their family, in a genuine and folksy French Canadian way. Many were the dinners we enjoyed there, along with Aunt Janet and her children. I remember the walks around their neighborhood in the splendidly parched desert. It would be cool and dry at this time of year, and after the huge Thanksgiving repast, we'd play Euchre, Spades, or a funny card game called "Screw Your Neighbor." Oh, and there were dice games too.

Even earlier, when I was 16, my parents dropped me off at Gram and Gramp's in Linda Vista, while they took off in their brand-new, racing yellow 71 240Z to get married at Lake Tahoe. I don't remember much of that Thanksgiving, except that it was a break from 10th grade at Kearny. We attended church then--at the proud gray hall of the Linda Vista United Methodist Church.

Times change, yet the event endures...

The thing that occurs to me about Thanksgiving and other annual holidays is that they are kind of like the movie "Groundhog Day" or that new TV show, "Daybreak." The holiday recurs over and over, essentially built of the same ingrediants, yet it subtly changes over time due to the influence of every single event that has occured in our lives over the past year.

The event repeats, yet it is different. The cycle continues and yet it changes, till one day we are no longer around anymore to participate in it, yet the cycles revolve and evolve into the indefinite future...

To all who participated in my life over the past 51 Thanksgivings that I have dwelled on this Earth, I send my deepest and most heartfelt thanks. I cannot name you all, but you'll live forever in my memories.