Keep it Real Wednesday
November 26, 2020
Thanksgiving 2020
At breakfast yesterday I asked Rosemary to tell me all about her most favorite Thanksgiving. She reflected quietly as she ate her oatmeal. I was certain that she was going to recall a family time with the five of us (My Mom, Dad and us three kids) and respond with a statement such as “Remember when we were living in Baltimore and the dog ate the ….” or “Remember when we were living in New Jersey and the chair caught on fire and….” So many places we shared, so many memories and so many Thanksgivings including the last 23 years with Wade and I, and our children.
But to my surprise, none of those moments were what she referenced.
She said her most precious Thanksgiving memory was with her Mom and Dad as a child living in Cleveland on 44th Street. She went on to say, being an only child in her generation was rare and that it made her family gatherings much different than her peers with large families.
Although their family was small, Thanksgiving with her Mom and Dad was
intimate, sweet and precious. They sat at their modest table with their finest
linens and china and Rosemary felt nothing but love.
My own eyes filled up a bit as I reflected on what this week’s Thanksgiving might look like because of COVID 19 as we comply with the difficult things asked of all of us in this pandemic.
The likely result will be Thanksgiving with just the three of us, Wade, Rosemary and myself. We will sit at our own modest table with our finest linens and china and share a Thanksgiving meal with love.
I suspect Thanksgiving 2020 will hold a special place in my memories too as we share Rosemary’s full circle memories.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We wish you a day of memory making.
