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It seems like the more your family grows the more difficult it becomes to get everyone together on the holidays. I grew up with four older brothers, me being the only girl and baby of the family. They all got married and had families of their own and so did I. I enjoyed our holidays together because we always talked and laughed for hours. There was never a lack of story telling or song making. When I was a teenager one of my brothers went through a divorce. Like most modern families we then had to learn how to deal with sharing part of our family on the holidays. I went through a divorce after five years of marriage also. Then another brother who had been married nineteen years followed suit. It's hard enough to juggle schedules without the parenting schedules added to the mix.

Year after year went by with our family falling apart. I would invite the family or ask where and when we were all getting together. I would cook the turkey, bake the pies, and do it all up right. Some family would show up and we'd laugh and talk but it seemed like conversation would take a turn for the worse when someone would inevitably mention the missing members. "Why couldn't so and so make it? What's their problem?" I'd usually respond with something like "oh they just wanted to spend the holiday at home with their kids this year." Then the question would follow "Well, why didn't they invite us over to their house then?" After several years of repeating this scenario I decided I just wasn't going to cook turkey and all the fixings. I called everyone and told them "This year I'm ordering pizza and renting movies, no turkey allowed, no stuffing, nothing traditional." It amazed me when everyone and I mean EVERYONE showed up. It was like old times, we laughed and talked for hours. No one had anything bad to say. Who would have thought just making it simple would get everyone to come over? Maybe they just don't like turkey.

I never ordered pizza again for Thanksgiving. I missed getting up and putting the turkey in the oven and the smell of it baking in the air while the television played the parade in the background. To this day it is the most memorable Thanksgiving our family ever had. Everyone still speaks fondly about that day. We lost Mom in 2005 and some other family members since that fun day. We never did all get together again like that and I'm not sure we ever will. Maybe it was the pizza, maybe it was timing. We will always have that Thanksgiving that we had pizza and laughter.

Learn more about this author, Lucinda Davis.
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