by Ila Ann

Created on: February 15, 2010

My situation is a bit different from most I would say. I was born ten years after the youngest girl. There were four of us; the oldest being my brother, than a sister, another sister and oops….I came along.

I was only four when I was flower girl at my brother’s wedding. My first and only niece was born when I was also four. Auntie was a word I could barely pronounce. The two eldest left the house when I was too young to remember, hardly, and much too young to care. That just left me with my sister of ten and now we each had our own bedrooms.

Our family did not have numerous family traditions like some families do. I guess that does not matter nearly as much as how special the traditions are. Since I was an aunt at four, it makes sense that this pattern continued, baby after baby….nephew after nephew. Remember, I told you there was only one niece.

Anyway, the tradition that I remember, that I loved and that I was sad to see end was Thanksgiving. My mom loved to cook and she was very good at it! She would start several days before the ‘big day’ by making the pie crusts, which she made from scratch. So many hours of preparation went into planning for this once a year event. My dad would help in small ways, like staying out of the way!

Living in Southern California the weather was wonderful on Thanksgiving Day at least 95% of the time. This was a good thing as our family was big now and our house was still small. Fortunately, we were usually able to go outdoors.

The main meal would be set up in the dining room with the linen tablecloth and napkins, the good silverware and finest china and crystal. This would be for the adults and a dirty look would shoot your way if you even came close to it. The kids would sit at card tables set up throughout the rest of the living room and then of course, there were the two redwood patio tables in the backyard. If it turned out there, were not enough room for all the adults at the dining room table then you would find the stragglers sitting outside. Usually by dessert, most were outside and the dining room table was clear. (Thanks to the women in the family; girl children, included).

This tradition went on ceaselessly..even after my dad died in 2003, there were still enough of us left living within the state that we would meet up for our traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. We all were thankful. A joyous time filled with love and laughter.

Over the years, some of us left and returned, but the tradition

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