It was a Thanksgiving full of new traditions. Now that Mimi has moved into her assisted living apartment, her house was no longer the family gathering spot. Instead we were seaside at Susan and Tony’s beautiful B Street home. Susan, Leigh and I came together for breakfast early in November to map out the menu and brainstorm some other ways to mark the transition.
The result was some forced fun that (mostly) went over really well. For starters, we all wore flannel tops. This ensured everyone came to dinner in casual, comfy clothing, gave us plenty of kick-off small talk about who chose which pattern (Brody was wearing Night Watch:)) everyone chose and how many flannels they had coming into this idea.
Dinner itself was pretty traditional but there were a couple surprises. My mom pranked everyone by presenting a Cornish game hen in Mimi’s turkey roasting pan. We whipped out the cranberries for the orange sherbet much to Charles’ chagrin as he had thought he was in the clear from this least favorite appetizer. Ha! The kids made themselves a ‘Family Thanksgiving BINGO’ game that included gems like ‘Someone tells a story about someone that nobody has ever heard of’ and ‘Someone tells a story from something they learned on Facebook.” We found ourselves laughing with the embarrassment of our own predictability every time they crossed out a square.
After dinner, we held a power point contest! Each kid was the captain of a team who had to put together a presentation around the topic of Food. Liam’s group did old timey, disturbing food advertisements. Ellie’s team did a presentation of what each person in the family would be if they were a food (I was a cupcake…hmmmm). Audrey’s group shared all their favorite parts of the season, bringing it back to the food as the best part. Owen’s group didn’t really do anything so he cried. I think next year he will rethink. ha!
The whole night ended up lovely. Once it was dark, we set out to the town bonfire which was insanely packed. We got home and poured our (drunk) selves into bed. I have so much to be grateful for, and this new family that has put their arms around us is a big one.
Thanksgiving 2023 was one for the books!