It is November 1, which I suppose means the Holiday Season has officially begun. What that means for me, first and foremost, is it's time for my annual house cleaning to begin. Yep, time to dust, vacuum and mop. Oh, and wash curtains and rugs. And make my bed. And if you think I'm kidding, well you don't know me very well. I'm hosting the Granger/Crook Thanksgiving Dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Nothing like getting it out of the way! Wait, that sounds like I'm not looking forward to it, and that couldn't be further from the truth. I love having everyone over for the day. I don't even mind cooking. Now if I could just hire someone to come in and get my house ready for it, life would be perfect! These get-togethers remind me of my childhood. We always spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with my mom's brother Herb and his family. All these years later, it's not quite the same with Uncle Herbie and my Dad both gone, but spending the day with my favorite cousins is something I never get tired of!
Plans for the Bryson Thanksgiving are still up in the air. This will be our 3rd Thanksgiving without Janette, and I'm afraid they will never be the same. She loved having her family over for big holiday dinners. She cooked for days in advance, always had her house decorated for the occasion, and dressed for the holiday! Family dinners at her house were the one constant in our lives. We always knew what to expect and she never disappointed us. A big turkey, ham too, mashed AND scalloped potatoes, a hot vegetable, plus green bean casserole, because she knew I didn't like very many vegetables, but I'd eat that one! She always made this salad with lemon jello and cottage cheese. I think it had green peppers and pimento in it. It was a strange little dish I'd never heard of before, but it was yummy! And then there were the pies. and cakes. and all the other desserts. Then we'd spend the afternoon sitting around the table talking, having more dessert and coffee, until it was about 4:30 and it was time to start getting supper on the table. No one was leaving her house without eating supper, no matter how full you were! We'd have sandwiches with the left over meat, potato salad, coleslaw, green salad, and always always always cheese and crackers. You were lucky if you did have to roll away from her table!
I miss her most in the fall. We always spent more time together during harvest, sitting around waiting for the guys to need us. And I'm sure with November 7 looming in the near future, she's on my mind even more. I look at Chloe and I'm just so sad that they never knew each other. Carter brought so much joy to her life, and Chloe would have doubled that joy. Especially last night. She would have laughed at Carter in his cowboy getup, and oohed and awed over Chloe's butterfly costume. I'm almost as sad for what she's missing as I am for those of us who loved her and miss her every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment