Today, I’m thankful for family and friends. I’m also appreciative of jobs and careers that have enabled me to have a home and enough food.

I’m thinking about the Thanksgiving family gatherings I had with my family when I was growing up, then later celebrations when I became an adult and had children of my own.

The photo above was taken at my Aunt Mable Kenyon’s home in Cashmere, Washington, circa 1956. My Aunt Mable was the matriarch of my dad’s family. We’d gather in Cashmere, about a two hour drive from our home, for the holidays.

Due to the pandemic, I’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving by myself rather than going to Madrid like I’ve been doing for the past decade.

In 2020, I ordered a fancy, expensive dinner from a local French restaurant. In 2021, I ordered a dinner from a supermarket.

For this year’s celebration, I’m also by myself. My daughters are coming the first week in December for an early Christmas celebration, so I’m saving up my get-together-time-in-the-covid-era for being with them.

On Tuesday, I put together my Thanksgiving dinner. I didn’t want to shop the day before Thanksgiving. One year, I went to the supermarket several times when we were making pies. My daughter’s boyfriend was amazed by the pie making process. His step-mother didn’t cook much. We kept making different kinds of pies. The store was so crowded. I waited in long lines several times.

For my Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll be having turkey and mashed potatoes from Safeway, only one serving of turkey because I switched to a plant-based Diet in June; cornbread stuffing from Trader Joe’s; roasted vegetables with garlic and herbs from Trader Joe’s; whole organic cranberries canned by a company called Woodstock; and pumpkin pie, one slice, from Safeway. I only bought one slice of pie because we’ll be having a lot of pie for our Christmas dinner soon. Safeway also had half pies. I sort of wish I’d bought more.

I’ll post my Instagram video of the dinner when I get it made.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones. I hope your life is going well and you are achieving your life’s dreams and goals.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Rita R. Robison (@rita.robison)