Happy Thanksgiving

In Monterey, CA

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it’s my favorite holiday.

Charlie and I had our first Thanksgiving together in 1988. We were living in Monterey, California. Charlie was going to the Naval Postgraduate School then.

I think that was the first time I had ever roasted a turkey. I even made a pumpkin pie from scratch. I was pretty ambitious back then. Of course, I was probably trying to impress someone too.

In those two years in Monterey we spent two Thanksgivings and two Christmases together. It was a magical time. Of all the places we’ve lived, I enjoyed Monterey the most.

Thanksgivings in PA 1991

We moved to Pennsylvania from Monterey and were there for three years. We were closer to family, so we spent more holidays with them. A few years later, we lived in Virginia for two years and again saw our families more often on holidays.

This Thanksgiving we are at home. I will be roasting a turkey, of course. But, I will not be making a pumpkin pie from scratch. For the last several years, my pies have come from either Mrs. Smith’s or Costco.

This year our friends, Patti and Bob, from Palm Springs, are coming to dinner. We’re thankful for having good friends who want to spend time with us.

I think back on Thanksgivings when I was growing up. When we were all young and at home, it would have made a perfect picture for a Norman Rockwell calendar. Well, maybe not PERFECT, but Mom, Pop and all of us kids were sitting around the dinner table. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but I’m sure it’s in my brothers’ and sisters’ memories, as it is in mine. These are the times that you never forget.

As we got older and left home, we sometimes made it back for Thanksgiving and other holidays, but not always. It became a rare occasion to have everyone together in one place, with our extended families.

I am so thankful to have the memories of the traditions that I was raised with. I still prepare the same dishes that I remember having as a child. The only thing I have added since I met Charlie is the “green bean casserole”. Our traditional meal with the turkey was dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, asparagus, corn, cranberry sauce, candied yams, and rolls, but no green bean casserole. (Of course, I don’t think that was “invented” when I was a kid).

We have had some personal tragedies this year. We don’t have kids, but we have our pets who we love dearly. We’ve lost two of them this year. Both were unexpected, but one, Grady, was so sudden that we didn’t have time to prepare. Not that you’re ever ready. We did have a little warning with Taz, but after going through an illness that couldn’t be cured, he was also taken from us. We knew it was inevitable, but we weren’t quite ready to say good bye to him.

I’m very thankful for having a husband who has been tolerant of me. I feel like I have pushed him to the limit sometimes. If it wasn’t for the fact that he loves our pets as much as I do, I don’t think he would have wanted to get a cat when we lived in Monterey:

• So.... we went to the shelter and found Rowdy.
• Then when Calvin started living on our patio....we adopted him.

Calvin and Rowdy in Monterey, CA

• Then in Pennsylvania, we started talking about getting a dog......we got Chelsi.
• And because Rowdy and Calvin were getting older, we wanted a kitten. That was when we
found Taz at the shelter in California.
• I brought Jezibel home because she was homeless. We adopted her and she had nine kittens.....five of which we kept.
• Then there was Mo, a stray, who needed to come in from the cold.
• The twins, Jason and Kaci......
• And of course, Sheila.
• Then came Debby and her kittens. We still have Debby.

Charlie has a big heart and he accepted all of these little creatures. Okay, in some cases I had to really use persuasion and talked him into it, but he knew they needed us as much as we needed them, and he finally agreed.

He has never judged me and it’s as innocent as that. No matter what problems we've had with our pets, i.e. tearing things up, inappropriate litter box use, etc., he has never said to me that we shouldn’t have ever gotten any of these pets. They are ours and we will always be responsible for taking care of them.

When Taz was diagnosed with lymphoma, we knew we were possibly looking at a huge medical bill, but we committed ourselves to it. Charlie said “In for a penny, in for a pound”. We stayed with him until the end.

We both love Taz and wanted to do whatever we could for him. We just hoped that he would be with us longer, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m thankful to have had him for almost 12 years. I still think of him every day and I miss him terribly. He was my constant companion so it’s very hard for me still.

But, we’re thankful to have had all of the pets in our life together. We no longer have Rowdy, Calvin, Chelsi, Mo, Grady, and Taz. They were all very special and will always be with us. They live through pictures and tapes that we have. We are enjoying the ones who are still with us.

We are also very thankful to have such a wonderful family and good friends to be with.

As we give our thanks this Thanksgiving, we wish everyone who is reading this, a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving too.

More later............