I love Thanksgiving and I love to cook Thanksgiving dinner. This year a couple of my friends marveled that I not only like to cook Thanksgiving dinner but I LOVE to cook it. It gave me pause to really think about why I love Thanksgiving? This year I realized Thanksgiving has become a blending of traditions from my family and childhood and my husband’s family. It is now becoming my children’s childhood memories and tradition. I have to give credit to my grandmother and my in-laws.
My grandmother always managed to flawlessly pull off a feast fit for a king…and an army. In a small two bedroom home she always managed to feed twenty plus people to a sit down Thanksgiving. My in-laws share the same sentiment, anyone in need of a meal was always welcome to join us—this meant when my husband, his siblings and I were in college and early twenties it was a mish mash of family and friends coming together for a huge wonderful meal. The first Thanksgiving my husband and I hosted early in our marriage caused a panicked call to my grandmother halfway across the country. In her normal usual calm tone she reassured me it was the easiest meal I would make and it would be fantastic. A combination of her reassurance and my in-laws swooping in and rescuing me resulted in an amazing meal for over twenty people.
While we often talk of estate planning in tangibles, assets, personal property and once we are gone, we need to consider the legacy we are creating now and passing along during our lifetime. I am grateful my grandmother is still alive and available for cooking advice, but I know I won’t always have that luxury. I can only hope that my children appreciate what we are building for them to pass along, traditions built on both of their parents’ heritage.
