Today, the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving, is called in the media, “Black Friday,” as one of the top five days for holiday shopping. Contrary to popular belief, this day is not the #1 day for retail sales. The Saturday before Christmas is #1… but I digress. One thing I can promise on Friday — I am not going shopping! Instead, I’ll be basking in a warm glow all day.
I wrote this post before I collapsed into bed last night.
Yes, we did it with lots and lots of people…
We had 109 guests for join us for Thanksgiving yesterday. That’s a new record, even for me. 🙂
During four three-hour overlapping periods, we had about 25 to 30 friends, friends-of-friends, and in a few cases, former strangers now-new-friends, come to our home for Thanksgiving. As usual, my family helped out — two sisters and their husbands, a brother and his wife, five nieces and nephews, and four of their spouses. My fiance, bless his soul, helped me set up in the morning, but as soon as my family arrived, he took his leave. In his condition, recovering from his illness, he does not have the energy to be around a large, noisy, crowd. He went to stay at a neighbor’s house — these neighbors are away for the holiday.
We were honored by visits from a U.S. Senator, a Member of Congress, and several local elected officials, too. Their only requirement was not to pose for “photo ops.” That’s not what this event is for — no “posing with seniors” for a campaign brochure!
The purpose of this day of thanks is to provide a fun and warm place for my senior pals who would otherwise be alone since they cannot travel to visit with loved-ones for various reasons (economics, time, or whatever). They bring a “dish for four” (which averages more like a “dish for an Army”) while I cook four farm-fresh turkeys (two on Wednesday, and two on Thanksgiving day.)
We ate, we drank, we sang silly songs, some cheered the TV for whoever was playing football. It was so unbelievably warm that some of our visitors sat on our decks, enjoying a great day — and some relief from “all that noise.”
We also celebrated the marriage of two of my senior pals! They met each other at our Thanksgiving feast last year… one thing led to another, and I was honored to be invited to be a witness at their civil marriage ceremony on Wednesday. Yep, they married! Woo-hoo! (Can anyone sing a tune about being a Matchmaker? Okay, call me a shadchen, which is the correct Yiddish word for matchmaker! LOL! While I am not Jewish, my two friends are, so that’s why this reference.)
As each “shift” of guests were being called for their ride home, they would be presented with “a plate” re-filled with turkey and other foods from the banquet table, carefully wrapped in plastic. I learned to do that several years ago as a major way of disposing of left-overs that my fiance and I cannot eat. It puts the food to good use as many seniors seldom cook for themselves, so they enjoy home-cooked foods.
By 8:30pm, we bid farewell to our last guest. I gave my family members a gift that my fiance helped me pick out, thanked them all with huge hugs, then walked to the neighbor’s house to find my fiance, who was fast asleep, bless him.
I warmed him “a plate” and wrote this post while he’s gobbling his food like a turkey 🙂
Lock up now, clean up tomorrow. Dishes and trash can wait.
Life is short: bask in the afterglow of a truly special day with wonderful people. Truly, it was a “happy Thanksgiving!”