HOLIDAYS: SHARING LIFE’S UNEXPECTED TREASURES

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It is a day chock full of family, friends, and stories.

Yes, no matter whether or not I’m celebrating with my own kids and grandkids, or with friends, everyone shares stories at some point.  Some of my favorites are those moments we treasure from the past.

The photos capture those memories from the past, like this one from Thanksgiving 2009.  Typically, we gather a couple of days after the holiday in a restaurant, and not everyone is there every year, but this one shows a fairly good group gathering together:

 

As time passes, we tend to have more people missing, as they go their separate ways:  Alec attending UC in Berkeley; Aubrey in San Diego; and Fiona visiting friends in other places.

I treasure the photos and the memories, however, and when we can, we catch up with those we “missed” on the holiday.

A couple of years ago, we had our most successful turnout:

 

This year will be a small group again, as some of the older kids have jobs, and Alec will be back at Berkeley the day after Thanksgiving.

But when we gather together, we will have stories to tell, anyway.  And memories.

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We love talking about the last Thanksgiving we shared in the foothills, (2006) in the guest house next door to my main house.  The kids were pretty young that year.  My youngest son is holding his youngest, Aiden, on the right, and Noah, who is the youngest grandchild, on his left.

 

Here is the group in 2003, the year we first began having our holiday in the foothills.

 

What an odd assortment of photos, right?  I like seeing how everyone has grown and changed, and the memories keep those times alive for me.

Do you find yourself remembering past holidays when the season rolls around?

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