Earl and I attended my family’s traditional Thanksgiving-Christimas dinner at Halloween celebration today. The tradition started nine years ago when my grandfather remarried and started going to Florida right after Election Day. Since he and his wife weren’t going to be around for the holidays, we’d all celebrate early with a delicious buffet and a smattering of presents. It was a good time to get together with all my cousins and such and catch up with the family.
I didn’t know if the tradition would continue since my grandfather passed on in July, but I was glad to find out that everything was going to go as planned. So Earl and I trucked up north and went through the whole early holiday dinner routine. It was good to catch up with the family and share some stories. It’s probably the last time we’d see my sister before she heads back to Moscow to join her boyfriend while he plays hockey. She’s going to be gone until April this time. This is going to be an odd holiday season. Thank goodness for the internet and webcams.
We can watch the Macy’s Parade over web cam. I normally do NOTHING for Thanksgiving.
I love odd family rituals. My mother decided to move the Christmas present opening to December 24th so that it would interfere with church on Christmas morning. Santa arrived at our house the night before on the December 23rd and we’d open the present after dinner on the 24th. We were told that there were so many people in the world that Santa had to deliver to some house early and we were one of them. Years later, when we were all grown up, presents were still opened on the night of the 24th and waiting for the morning of the 25th weird for me to this day.