Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and the weekend that follows have changed so much over the past 15 years. There have been different seasons of our lives that have changed our traditions. Thanksgiving used to be at my mom's house with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. The food was unending as my mom's side loved to cook and associated love, family and socializing with good food. I am continually telling my kids cooking stories about my family. I've actually told two this past week. 1) My Aunt LaVonne used to make Red Food Coloring Cake, which is Red Velvet Cake in it's original title. My aunt always called it "cancer cake" because at that time a certain red food coloring was known to cause cancer. I'm sure the name was changed to save face for that very reason. 2) When I was very young, my Aunt LaVonne made a tuna noodle casserole that I just loved. I asked her what it was called and she told me, "Horse Poop Casserole." Sorta like a lady responds to a compliment on a dress: Oh this ol' thing?! Anyway, that is what we all called it ever since. I even have a recipe card with that title, which I showed the kids recently when I made it and they said, "Wow, this is good, what is it?" They wouldn't believe me until I showed them the recipe card.

After my mom passed away, it wasn't the same. Then my sister moved to Colorado. So, we started having a small, but nice and peaceful thanksgiving at home with just us. I'm sure my mom would just have a fit because I use instant mashed potatoes in my Thanksgiving dinner...my kids won't eat the real thing, so why bother!

Again circumstances change, and last year we had John's mom and his brother, Bill, join us for dinner. This year it didn't quite work out and the whole day was just plain Unthanksgivingy (nice word). My green bean casserole was horrible and I forgot to make 7 layered salad. My menu never changes: Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole, 7 layered salad, pumpkin and apple pie. Also, some of our traditions have not come to pass yet, such as, we usually watch My Life the night before. This is a real tear jerker that makes you realize that you have plenty to be thankful for. But others are underway, such as decorating the house for Christmas and taking the yearly family Christmas picture. I always write our family Christmas newsletter by Thanksgiving and list all the things we are thankful for. Putting it in writing makes you realize that life isn't so bad after all. There really is so, so very much to be thankful for.

We are rethinking our traditions and are going to try a few new things next year. We are entering a new season of our life: our children are getting older and we need to accommodate new interests and attention spans. I love Thanksgiving and can't wait to try again next year.