Thanksgiving II
I don't get home often enough. Once a year, usually, sometimes twice.
My niece is growing like a weed! I get pictures, sure, but it's still a shock to see in person just how much she's grown between visits. My grandmother will be 96 years old next month. She's been in a nursing home for several years now as she cannot care for herself and requires too much care to be able to be home. She hates being there, and I hate that she has to be there. I'm always glad to see her and spend time with her, but it can be hard sometimes, especially when she's not having such a good day. The visits this time went pretty well. She laughed quite a lot, and she only talked about wanting to come home once. Mom and Da' have both been relatively well, thankfully. But as each year passes, it's always harder to say good-bye when it's time to leave. I wish I weren't 500 miles away and could see them more often.
Thanksgiving dinner was nice. As always, there was way too much food. There was a lot of laughter, most of it instigated by my youngest sister. She's definitely the commedienne of the family. On Friday and Saturday, I was able to visit aunts, uncles and cousins, and see some old friends who still live in the area or were also home for the holiday. On Sunday, the normal 8 hour drive back to Boston took 10 hours. Weather, holiday traffic and the added football traffic (the Patriots had a home game, which they ended up losing 33-10!).
Overall it was a very nice holiday. Family, friends and food, lots of laughs tinged with some sadness and some frustration. Pretty much a typical Thanksgiving, I suppose.
My niece is growing like a weed! I get pictures, sure, but it's still a shock to see in person just how much she's grown between visits. My grandmother will be 96 years old next month. She's been in a nursing home for several years now as she cannot care for herself and requires too much care to be able to be home. She hates being there, and I hate that she has to be there. I'm always glad to see her and spend time with her, but it can be hard sometimes, especially when she's not having such a good day. The visits this time went pretty well. She laughed quite a lot, and she only talked about wanting to come home once. Mom and Da' have both been relatively well, thankfully. But as each year passes, it's always harder to say good-bye when it's time to leave. I wish I weren't 500 miles away and could see them more often.
Thanksgiving dinner was nice. As always, there was way too much food. There was a lot of laughter, most of it instigated by my youngest sister. She's definitely the commedienne of the family. On Friday and Saturday, I was able to visit aunts, uncles and cousins, and see some old friends who still live in the area or were also home for the holiday. On Sunday, the normal 8 hour drive back to Boston took 10 hours. Weather, holiday traffic and the added football traffic (the Patriots had a home game, which they ended up losing 33-10!).
Overall it was a very nice holiday. Family, friends and food, lots of laughs tinged with some sadness and some frustration. Pretty much a typical Thanksgiving, I suppose.