Do You Want To Come Over For Thanksgiving?

When we lived in Oklahoma, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. I’d grown up in a military family that rarely had relatives nearby, and once Dad retired, the family we had left was splintered and fractured.

Then I got married.

My husband’s family was and is very close. Holidays are spent with family, reminiscing about the past and teasing about the future. There are long running inside jokes, and always more love to be passed around. I loved it! Then we moved to Texas, and Thanksgiving became just my family at the dining room table. It was pretty much like any other meal, except with more food.

We tried to festive it up with decorations, but it was still just another dinner.

And I hate that.

This year I’ve decided to try something different. If I can’t have a table filled to overflowing with relatives, then I can at least have a full table and a heck of a party.

We can’t be the only people marooned far from their loved ones, or the only ones who wish that was different. We’ve already invited my aunt who lives an hour away, and a couple of Chinese exchange students, and my daughter’s kind-but-odd college  roommate to join us. A few minutes ago, I recklessly posted an open invitation to Thanksgiving on my Facebook wall. That’s right, I invited my entire 700+ friend list to Thanksgiving dinner.

There is no reason to be alone if you don’t want to be. There are people all around us who don’t want to be alone either. So I’ll brine the turkey, and you can bring the pumpkin pie. We can share our traditional recipes with each other, and all learn what it means to be thankful for what we have and be generous with ourselves. Don’t stress over the crazy relatives, or what the kids will do. Your mortifying moment will be someone else’s “You’ll never believe this…” story.

No Fear! No Regrets!

Which leads me to ask – How about you? Are you coming over for Thanksgiving Dinner? If not, are there new people you could invite to yours?