Giving thanks

I think yesterday was the strangest-feeling Thanksgiving I've had.  It was hard to pinpoint just what felt so weird and off.  Yes, there was the fact that Brandon was in San Diego, alone, all day.  And Christa had to stay here and work while the rest of her family went to Lincoln to see J.R.'s family.  And there were only six of us at Mom's Thanksgiving table.  And for some reason all the "Black Friday" news was just so irritating to me this year.  And Greg and I went to Walmart and got groceries last night - Thanksgiving night!!

But the more I thought and talked to Greg about it, I realized I'm mostly just nostalgic.  The Thanksgivings I remember from my childhood were all day events that included every single member of the family (and then some), because we all lived in the same town.  The food array was predictably enormous, and we never stopped eating all day long.  We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year, looking forward to it like we looked forward to Christmas morning ... almost.  And the most startling difference is that there were no stores open.  None.  No convenience stores, grocery stores, of course no fast food or restaurants or retail stores.  There was no missing the fact that it was Thanksgiving!

So that is what I finally came down to ... it would be really easy to just skip over Thanksgiving entirely.  Our families are all spread out and the whole retail and news world not only keeps moving but ramps into overdrive.  I didn't even think about the parade - I assume it was on yesterday?? 

I miss those simpler times!  My age is showing for sure ... nostalgia is creeping in ... and having said all of that I'm so thankful that our little piece of the family celebrated together yesterday with traditional food, football, and games. I am also thankful, however, for the wonderful memories I have from Thanksgivings gone by.