Thanksgiving

The week before Thanksgiving, Bill and I traveled by Amtrak to Portland, OR. There, we met up with my cousin John and his wife Helen. We had a wonderful dinner visiting and catching up with them. We then journeyed on to Silverton, where we would spend the next few days celebrating an early Turkey Day with Bill's family. His sister Robin was waiting up for us. I'm not sure if was the lateness of the hour, 0r the excitement of seeing one another (or both), but we spent the next half hour or so cracking each other up. The next morning, Bill's mom took us all out for a yummy breakfast. Then we headed back to the house to play games, drink tea, visit and get ready for our turkey. Bill's uncle Bud and wife Tia arrived as a surprise for his mom, and boy was she ever surprised. Other visitors included Bill's sister Cheryl, his brother Rick, wife Candee and their two grown sons Nick and Ricky. Candee's aunt and her husband came too. Pat was Bill's Sunday school teacher, and she told me that he liked to be called Billy Smitheroo (or something like that), and one day during a heat wave tried to encourage her to take off her sweater. Well, for some reason all she had on was a bra underneath, and she couldn't find a polite way to tell him this. Bill's uncle Bud and brother Rick kept us all in stitches as we shared our Thanksgiving dinner sharing stories of Bud's gas station during the time Rick was his employee. Believe me, some of the stories they told would never happen in current times. Like the guy who emptied his ashtray on the ground at the pump, so uncle Bud took a locking gas cap with no key, put it on the guy's car and sent him on his road trip! HA! The rest of the weekend held much merriment ~ endless games of darts, accusations of cheating, card playing, Scrabble, laughter, sharing of more stories, and lots of food. On Saturday, Bill's cousin David, his wife Jenn and their daughter Lizzy came for a visit. They are expecting their second child (a boy) in February. Robin's "older sister" words of wisdom to Bill as we left were, "read the dictionary and learn some more Scrabble words before you come back!" All in all, it was a wonderful weekend filled with lots of memories and the love of family.
The following week was Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, Bill and I started the drive to CA. We had decided to drive down so we could sell our truck. Before we left Seattle, we got a call from Haley saying she had been in a car accident. That was pretty scary. Fortunately, though she had some residual soreness, she was not seriously injured nor was the other driver. Her car, however, did not fare as well. The drive to CA was long, made a bit longer by our desire to be there for Haley. We arrived Wednesday afternoon, loaded up most of Haley's kitchen and all the groceries she'd purchased and away we went to Bodega Bay. Thursday, we got up early and embarked on the welcome task of preparing Thanksgiving. My sister Margaret, her husband Chris, their two children Brandon and TaiLeah, and TaiLeah's boyfriend Dan came to share our meal. After eating, we all ventured down to the beach to enjoy a nice walk and a lovely sunset. I think it's interesting to watch people on the beach, even my own family. We all seem to have moments of utter quiet; some like to dip their toes in the water, others like to watch the waves, or wander a bit alone. I love the ocean, it's presence is healing, peaceful and wondrous. Friday, we spent more time on the beach and in the evening Haley's friend Courtney arrived. We enjoyed a bbq dinner with her, and then embarked on the next round of card playing. Saturday, beheld more food, more walks on the beach, including an exhilarating game of Frisbee, after which we headed over to Bill's cousin's RV campsite where we enjoyed our third Thanksgiving meal, and time with family and friends. A special visitor there was my dear friend from high school, Tresa. We had fun visiting a few old memories, and catching up on our lives. It was great to see her. Sunday, we visited with Bill's dad and step-mom Elsie as we headed through Santa Rosa and on to the airport. Though we missed Mike, Timbra, Alani, Justin, my sister Teri, brother Stephen and their families, we know there are more special times with them in our future. What a wonderful two weeks spent with family.

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