I love Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner! I love the sharing of an incredibly complicated turkey dinner (my husband's all time favorite). Even though I don't actually enjoy cooking, spending two days creating a meal almost solely for the delight of my other half is enormously gratifying. And now that my hilarious daughter is old enough to sip wine, help cook, and no longer lives at home, the prep is as much fun as the eating, even including the time the scalloped potatoes burst into flames in the oven.
I love the way the table looks, set with plain white china, wineglasses with navy stems, my husband's mother's silver ware, and best of all, her cranberry-orange relish resplendent in a waterford crystal bowl of uncertain origin. It's unclear whose wedding was responsible for the appearence of the bowl, and it's tucked away 363 days a year, but I wouldn't think of serving Anne's delicious cranberry relish in anything else.
This year, I broke a bone in my foot the day before Thanksgiving while helping my son deliver greenery for the annual Boy Scout fundraiser. Aside from the fact that I hurt myself in a boring and pathetic way (falling down in a parking lot) I have no cast to elicit the proper level of sympathy. I
DO have a beige, perforated, orthopedic shoe with a wood bottom that makes me walk like Igor in
Young Frankenstein. I can't hang the lights on the front of the house or fetch the decorations from the basement, get the ribbon and wrap bins off the top shelf, or haul the lovingly selected and beautifully wrapped packages to the post office. This year, if the cranberry relish makes it to the table, it might well be in Tupperware.
So, loved ones, this year you're going to have to forgive me for skipping the little things, and some of the big things as well. My foot hurts! Please remember that with or without beautifully wrapped gifts, personalized cards, or home baked cookies, I am deeply thankful for your presence in my life. With or without the silver and curling ribbons, you add richness and joy to my life, and for that I am truly grateful in my own crabby way. Now fetch me my icepack, and have a wonderful holiday!
