Thanksgiving Memories

In my last post, I wrote about a Thanksgiving writing prompt. It got me thinking that I don't have many strong memories of early Thanksgivings. We used to have turkey on both Thanksgivings and Christmases, and I might be confusing the memories. My cousin Cindy mentioned spending Thanksgivings at our house in Audubon.

After my parents divorced and my mother remarried, she went to my stepfather's parents' house while they were still alive. I don't remember resenting it at the time (I was 20, not some little kid) but I used it years later to rationalize spending Thanksgiving with Jeff's family. 

Jeff and I spent several years going to this sister's house and a few times at her country club. The last several years found us at retirement communities with our parents. Sometimes we've pet sit for Jeff's sister's dog. We spent a Thanksgiving apart so each of us could be with his/her mother when there was no one else.   

As I wrote in my essay for my memoir class Saturday: Ultimately the number of people doesn't matter. It's the love that counts.