Happy Turkey

After yesterday's rain there are puddles everywhere; I had the luxury of spending a little alone time out on a neglected patio above the pool with my camera, and loved what I found there.

We are all here now, all three generations, and all the relationships are shifting and renewing as they do every year. I am an only child, so it's particularly intriguing to me to watch my husband and his siblings cope with each other's successes and failures, and with their aging father -- and their own aging, as well.

It's fun, also, to see their family traits echoed in my daughters and my nephew; to see all the ways they cope with their genetic predispositions. So many bits and pieces of personalities have a way of reflecting in other family members, modified always by their own unique internal surfaces...

But mostly I am aware today of how grateful I am to have been moving in this particular family circle for all these years. Our mothers died within nine months of each other, in '96 and '97, and we've been gathering, the 12 or so of us, every Thanksgiving ever since, through divorces and deaths and marriages and engagements and illnesses and operations, always coming back together to re-establish those ties. It hasn't always been easy, but we persist. As my newest brother-in-law (we like to call ourselves the "outlaws") said last night, Thanksgiving, this way, with these people and the way we all spend our time drifting in and out of conversations together over the course of these few days, is a lovely alternative to the often challenging rituals of Christmas.

I'm grateful for lots of other things today as well: for Dana's repeal from surgery, and for the end of his treatments; for Nan's successful surgery; for Connie and Mike who are watching over our animals on the other side of the country; for J&J, the best neighbors we've ever had; and for all the blessings of friendship and faith that have carried us safely through another year. I thank you all for staying with me in the blogosphere, and wish you a joyous Thanksgiving.