Mom says "Ronda" I am going to make your favorite Icebox cake for Thanksgiving". Book aka "Toot" for you I am going to make your deviled eggs. Rodney I know you, Poncho (my uncle that lived with us) , Robbie and Janice love the macaroni and cheese". Not really sure what Sandra (the eldest of the bunch) likes. We all smile with excited anticipation about getting to eat our favorite holiday item! I cut up the onions because for some reason they don't make me cry so much and I have to peel the potatoes because I peel the fastest. Hmmm...I think I got tricked! LOL! My brother Rodney is a great cook and loves to help in the kitchen. Janice, Book and Robbie are the youngest so they just play around or watch!
We all do our parts and then go sit at the table for a round of monopoly. Why is it that Rodney seems to always win?! He always gets Board Walk and Park Place! He is so business savvy at such a young age! I am fighting to get the yellow and the red properties! We are all happy there is no school and we have the long weekend at home! The only thing we don't look forward to is having to dress up to sit at the Thanksgiving table! What in the world?! We all have to share something we are grateful for and eat with TWO forks! huh? LOL!
There is nothing like family and building relationships! The laughter, the fussing about who gets to sit where especially since in our blended family! There were 10 of us in a 4 bedroom house that was about 1200 square feet with ONE bathroom! WOW! When you are living it, you just do what you got to do, you don't think about the how! We had so much fun growing up!
Now that we are all adults some married, some single parents, some no kids, some never married and hey some divorced too, we still get together for Thanksgiving almost every year and yep we usually play MONOPOLY and YEP Rodney still usually wins! Of course it is usually just the kids since our parents broke up! Sometimes it is a little sad though because Robbie was killed in a car accident at 19 years old. We all miss him! He and Book were the closest since they were only 2 years apart.
But just the same...memories of the good ole' holiday traditions are still treasured in my heart! Laughing, loving, crying...sharing things we are grateful for! I think for me as I look back on those childhood memories...my gratitude was for the simplicity of family!
Happy Holidays!