Thanksgivings Past & Present

This is a holiday season like no other.  It defies any sense of tradition, and Thanksgiving was no exception.  We don't really have a Thanksgiving tradition, evidenced by the following chronicle of the Thanksgivings since the year we were married.


2004 - Went to Portland together.  It was our last family get-together with Uncle Dale before he passed.

2005 - The only Thanksgiving we spent at our Tacoma 6th Ave house.  We enjoyed dinner with a teacher I worked with, Jenny, and her husband.  We just got Mia, our first attempt at having a puppy.  Later, we gave her to Ty's mom, and what a blessing she's been to her.

2006 - I had to take the week prior to Thanksgiving off because I had pneumonia and bronchitis.  We had Thanksgiving at Ty's second high school family, the Wilsons.   Bryce's mom, Marilyn, was also very sick.  Neither of us had a voice, but it felt so good to be welcomed into their home.

Here are Bryce and Ty (two years prior).  They'll always share a history and bond.

Later, we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas with Ty's parents.  This was my first turkey dinner, and it turned out all right.  I went to the local cooking shop and said, 'I have get to cook dinner for my in-laws.  What the hell heck do I do?"

2007 - We brought take-out turkey dinners to the hospital.  We sat in a hospital room in silence, looking at our meals.  This was the day before Ty's dad was transferred to hospice.  Exactly one week later, he passed.

2008 - Just the two of us in our condo, and we made it romantic.  Ty's mom was spending Thanksgiving with Billy (his brother) and Trisha on the East Coast. 

2009 - Just the two of us in our condo.  Still romantic, but being the second year in a row, I was a little sad.  (You may notice I didn't even bother to put on make up in the picture.)
 

2010 - This year we planned for 4 guests up until the Monday before Thanksgiving: Marsha, Aaron (Marsha's boyfriend), and Aaron's dad and dad's wife, who we would be meeting for the first time.   I was pretty darn excited, and had the table set a week in advance.

 

We had an unusual bout of winter weather and were fortunate enough to have the entire week of Thanksgiving canceled due to icy road conditions and multiple power outages.  Thankfully, we had power. 

One thing led to another, and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we had a grand total of 12 guests.  Ty invited a teacher from his school and her son.  I invited Dave, Brenda, Liam, and Eryn - my pseudo-sister and her amazing family.  And the night before we discovered that my former co-worker, Tony, and his wife Kim did not have plans either, so what the heck, the more the merrier.  And merrier it was.  It was a blast.   I only had one minor moment of panic, right before dinner was served.

I didn't mention Tanner, our friends' dog, who we were watching for the holidays, in the list of guests.  She's hiding under the table.

I've often wondered what I have to offer others, and this year I discovered how much I love to open our home to others. I am grateful for our home and the opportunity it provided us this Thanksgiving to reach out.