Washington State 2024 - Giving Thanks

 My niece and her husband both took the day before Thanksgiving off. My brother is retired and my sister in law only worked till noon so we had two full days to celebrate family and be thankful for the love of those dear, yet not necessarily always near, to us. 

I love to cook. Cooking with those I love makes it all the more enjoyable. My sister in law, niece and I made desserts and prepped food for the big meal the next day before all of us shared a dinner at the small town's Mexican restaurant. We sent my niece's husband out for white wine to sip on as we worked. We taste tested, debated on the consistencies of pie and dessert fillings and had, in general, a wonderful time. 

We shared stories and enjoyed the antics of the 17 month old addition to our family. We laughed, we drank, more than I usually do, my brother and I being a bad influence on each other, as well as my niece's husband and relished time spent with each other. 

The next day a parade played on t.v while , once again, I, my sister in law, my niece and her husband coordinated efforts to get the Thanksgiving feast on the table. An excellent breakfast of english muffins buried under scrambled eggs, melted cheese and fresh crab, along with champagne spiked orange juice began the day. Later we enjoyed a rich zinfandel, thick cut egg noodles, a traditional holiday dish of my mother's, turkey, potatoes and a green bean casserole. In short, we were absolute gluttons. A friend used to refer to Thanksgiving as Fat Thursday. 

I played with my grand nephew, teaching him how to say the word "taxi", I am an urban dweller after all. My brother, niece's husband and I polished off an excellent, smooth bourbon I had procured from my work. It had been wrapped in several layers of protection and carefully packed in my luggage to insure that it arrived intact. 

We left as the youngest among us was going to take his bath and be put to bed. We would say a final goodbye the next morning enroute to the train station. 

Returning to my brother's home we watched a holiday baking competition in t.v. while he and I shared a final drink before retiring with a feeling of contentment unique to good food, special shared moments and the love of family.