Thanksgiving

London in the winter seems beset with germs.  I don't know why because the air quality is really good here, but everyone seems prone to sickness.  First the small people, and then, after looking after the small people and getting coughed on by said infected, often the bigger people too.  While plants seem to thrive in this damp climate, people are not so lucky.  Waiting in the playground at pickup time, it is easy to visualize the progressive dance of bacteria etc through the air as schoolchildren run about coughing and sneezing all over one another at regular intervals.

 

Sick granddaughter reading

Nick!

With everyone almost better, (for a brief moment) we had a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, November 24th, because Matthew had come all the way from America, and everyone felt like having one here!  Last year we were all together in our home in Massachusetts, our last and best Thanksgiving there.  The only one missing and missed this year was Nick, stuck at home with work deadlines.   

with my eldest and youngest children

I love this holiday, even with all the controversies surrounding its origins, because it is purely about family for us, our real family and the members we choose to be "family", our people.  There are no gift expectations, no hectic rushing about for presents, no frantic wrapping the night before, just a lovely feast, and a public declaration of no more than 5 things one is thankful for.  

with my daughters

My granddaughters and I did leaf-prints on the name-tags for each person, and also created beautiful printed papers for people to write their lists, and sometimes tomes, on.  It is interesting to hear all the things people are grateful for, especially the grandchildren, who had never experienced Thanksgiving before, being British and South African.  There were some profound gratitudes, some shy and surprisingly touching ones, and some hilarious ones, (a lot of those at our table!  I am very thankful for my childrens' senses of humour!).  

The decorators

Watching the decorators

Doing Wordle together after the feast.

And so for a small time, this lovely Thanksgiving meal, when the light inside is sweet and warm, we can eat good food cooked with love, we can drink liqueurs to warm our insides, we can tell our stories, we can listen to others' lives, we can become red-cheeked and a little tipsy, We can have intense discussions, we can look on those we love with wonder and delight.  And we can forget for a moment all the sorrows, all the worries and responsibilities, all the wrongs of the world around us. 

For we are alive!  We are together.  We hold one another in high regard.  We lean on each other, roaring with laughter or sobbing in difficult times.  

And I am thankful to be the matriarch (just like elephants) of this big, spirited, mad, laughing, intelligent, creative, bloody amazing family!

We all felt a bit like Juno after the feast!