Like so many families during the holidays we celebrated multiple Thanksgivings. As mentioned in our last blog we spent our actual Thursday Thanksgiving with Crystal’s Dad. We had a second and larger celebration on the following Sunday at our house. Our three daughters, four grandkids and my dad were all in attendance.
I’m not as stupid as I used to be. We have girls who are capable of helping. I made the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a couple of salads. Crystal made a dessert. The girls made the rest of what was a truly bountiful feast.
It was about half way through our dinner that my dad tried to get my attention. He praised the entire meal. He made a special point to mention the beet salad. It reminded him of Mimi (mom). Well it should; I learned it from her. It was one of the many traditional dishes, which mom used to make on a regular basis. I learned how to make them from her and am putting together a book of some of our favorites. To me these represent our family and traditions which should be passed down.
Over the next week as I had more time to reflect on our celebration. I realized that as I grew up, Mimi was the one who did all of the cooking. I knew how tired I got making about half of the meal. Every Thanksgiving, as I grew up, she would put together just as many dishes for dad and me as it took our whole family to create. Typically dad and I would spend about a half hour eating as much as we could, and then watch a football game as mom did the dishes. She worked from dawn to dusk for a half hour dinner and a rather meager moment of appreciation.
It’s only now that I can truly appreciate the sacrifices and seemingly endless energy that mom used to serve dad and my needs for all of those years. If you asked her, however, I know she would insist that it was no sacrifice at all. It was just her way to show love. That kind of love you can never pay back. You can only try to pay it forward.
I only hope that someday our kids know just how much they were loved.
Mom Dad and I after New Years 2011