Thanksgiving Trip

Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays for being able to relax, spend time with family, and appreciate what I have. Since I moved to VA five years ago, I haven't made it home for Thanksgiving. I have never lacked friends with whom I can share a traditional meal and the afternoon for each of the past five years. Each of those Thanksgiving holidays was very enjoyable and helped me to appreciate blessings, but it has never felt the same as going home.

I won't go so far as to say that Thanksgiving with Jesse's family was just like going home. I still missed my family--parents, sisters, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. (I heard there were at least a total of 23 gathered for this year's Thanksgiving meal.) But spending Thanksgiving "weekend" in PA was closer to the family Thanksgiving I grew up knowing than what I've been able to experience for the last few years. I got so far away that I wasn't able to end up spending part of the day or weekend working in the library. I had time to relax, play family games, and appreciate the blessings of life.

Picking up Jeremiah around 9:15, we made it to his parents' home near 3:00. Shortly, we headed off from there to have the Thanksgiving meal with one other family, his aunt's. Jesse had made up a apple crisp to contribute to dessert. In some ways, I felt like a bum--arriving without any food and not part of the family, but no one made me feel like an outsider.

In the evening, four of us (Jesse, David, their dad, and myself) sat down to a game of Boggle and later three of us (their dad headed to bed) played their version of Scrabble. It had been a while since I've played Boggle, I discovered I've picked up the tendency to write down questionable letter combinations--those that might be words, but don't even know for sure myself. I tried to keep this rather annoying (at least for other players) tendency to a minimum, but will have to work on that some more. Scrabble has never been a game that I've been particularly fond of, but I think I could like it better if I played it a bit more. The way they play the game was very different from the way I've ever played it, but in some ways, I found it more fun. By the last round or two, I was beginning to really get into the game and even won a round.

Friday morning was, for me, very relaxing. Margaret was sleeping after having worked her night shift. The guys were all outside splitting wood. Jeremiah, Jesse's mom, and myself hung around the house, doing a little clean-up, and talking. Jeremiah did go out for a few minutes to hang out with the guys and ride the "tractor" (riding lawn mower pulling a wagon) which he decided was too loud.

The afternoon seemed even shorter, as we watched a movie and Jesse and I made a trip to visit with one of his website clients in the area. The evening arrived and Margaret was able to join us for a game of SolarQuest. Somewhat similar to Monopoly, which I've never liked exceedingly well. I was very soundly beaten.

Saturday morning went quickly too as we packed, visited for the final time, and prepared to leave. Stop at the library and the bank where Jesse used to work were made on the way out of town. Traffic slowed us down a bit on the return south, so that we were later than intended in getting Jeremiah home. We did end up staying for a bit for a meal of Thanksgiving leftovers that was good.

Of course, there is so much that happens that doesn't fit well into a stark recitation of events--the teasing, tickling, and playing between Jeremiah and his aunt, uncle, and dad; the conversations and discussions that take place casually and continually; the work-outs and work; petting and playing with the dogs; learning "magic" tricks; and just experiencing family life.

How can I thank the McConnell's for making me a part of their family life, even if just for a couple of days?