My memories of holidays at home are nothing but good. First of all, waking up to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my siblings. Afterwards, the 6 of us (before my youngest brother came along) sitting around the dining room table having the traditional Southern foods for Thanksgiving - turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, pecan and pumpkin pies. Then we would get together with all of my mom's family and have even MORE food - more turkey, with dressing, giblet gravy, pies, sweet potato casserole, Aunt Belinda's broccoli and cheese casserole. But the holidays this year are different. I am married, and so I have my own family. Last year, we visited both families' houses at Thanksgiving, which required a cross-state trek. However, that leaves us feeling like we haven't even had a holiday. We had to do something different. So thanksgiving for me this year is a get-together with friends and my husband. The food is the same, but we have something missing from Thanksgiving this year - our families. It's a bittersweet holiday. We are making our own pecan pies, and adding some things of our own to the tradition (like Brie en Croute, in the picture above. A wheel of Brie baked in a pastry shell with cherries and pecans - nummy!) In one way, it's fantastic to have my own family to celebrate with. On the other, I miss what came before. Is there a way to merge our own celebration with our families' celebrations? Or are the holidays doomed to always come with that feeling that something's missing?
How do you guys merge your own Thanksgiving with that of your families?
