What do you see on your table on Turkey Day? If you live in Hawaii, it could start out with something like this.
We were invited over to Menehune Man's sister's house. She always works hard to put on a spread for family. Our dinner consisted of Turkey, Ham, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, carrot souffle, cranberries of 3 varieties, sushi, sashimi, poke, weiner wraps, ceviche, chips, 5 pumpkin desserts and an apple crisp.
The guest list is almost as varied as the food. A few years ago, in order to share the holiday with her husband's children, my sister in law started inviting his ex-wife to join us. I really admire her for this because not everyone could do that. But it works! And all their kids and grandkids are able to share the day with both of their parents without feeling divided.
My 90 year old mother in law enjoys watching football. She knows all the teams, players and can tell you what game will be on what channel on what day! She is so sharp still.
My brother in law flew home from Oahu. I think at one point I saw him and MM and one of the kids all snoozing. My nephew who recently moved to LA called and chatted for a bit to be part of the festivities.
Oh and the Buddhist Minister and his wife joined us as well. I believe it is the 3rd year. Mrs. always brings her carrot souffle which is delish! I thought it was so funny when they told me how they had met at a Karoke bar and later married. He is Japanese, from Japan. She is caucasian. One of the grandchildren said she wanted to "Thank Jesus" for the food, but this didn't bother the Buddhist Minister. He simply said, "it is good to be thankful.", and encouraged her to say "two prayers". Kudos to him!
It was nice being with family for the day. That is something I do miss. I miss my own family. I miss the way we interact and kid each other. I miss the way dad teases my mom and how she always predictably reacts! "Gene!" I miss eating, resting, and eating again! I miss my mom's sour cream lemon pie and fresh huckleberries. I miss my dad's homemade wine that he is so proud of. I miss my sister and my brother and maybe even his dry sarcasm! It has been more than 2 years since I have seen my family. I hope to remedy that in the next few months. Life gets so busy at times but sometimes you just have to make the time to do the things that matter.
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