Thanksgiving

Just like a majority of the country I spent yesterday with friends, feasting and giving thanks for the many blessings that have come my way in this past year.  I was fortunate in that I was not resigned to spending this holiday by myself in my dorm room.  Instead I was invited by Lauren to her parents house.  It was a large gathering and there at least eight people from CDSP, including Lauren and myself.  We arrived the night before and spent a few hours relaxing and even spent an hour in the hot tub.  I haven't been in a hot tub in years but it was quite relaxing and reminded me of my days in banyas in Petersburg and Moscow.  Lauren and I hung out with her mother while everyone slowly drifted off to their room for some rest before the big day.

Lauren woke up with Jonathan, an MA student from CDSP and the cook for the day, and they began the preliminary preparations.  I did not get up until about 9:30 when breakfast was ready.  We had a great egg, potato, bacon, onion and cheese frittata with turkey shaped biscuits.  I then proceeded to hang out with Lauren's dad and watch football.  The kitchen was busy with many different people doing many different jobs, all orchestrated into a seamless and continuous effort by Jonathan.  everything that was prepared was made from scratch, with one exception, Lauren's cranberry sauce had to come from a can even though we had a homemade cranberry sauce as well.  As the afternoon progressed more of Lauren's family arrived.  Her sister and brother-in-law and their children arrived.  Other family members slowly trickled in, including an "aunt" who traveled all the way from San Diego, an eight hour drive.

By 4:00PM the food was prepared and everyone was assembled around three different tables and ready to eat.  Lauren's five year-old niece Ava, sang a blessing at each table and we proceeded to enjoy the many diverse dishes that had been prepared for our enjoyment.  Everything was great and very delicious.  While there are certain things that I will always crave from my mother's kitchen, like her pecan pie and stuffing and her entire Christmas dinner, the food was excellent.  After about an hour and several plates later everyone was filled to the brim and we were ready to get up, stretch, and get ready for dessert.  We had an array of pies, most homemade and a few store bought and my favorite was the coconut creme pie.  It was still a little cold from thawing out, since it had been made the day before, but it was still good.

All in all it was a great day, especially being over three thousand miles away from my family and friends.  Over this last year I am thankful for a lot.  Here is a brief list:

Everyone Lesley for helping me graduate
Everyone at GS for supporting/helping me with my education goals and for understanding my call that took me away from a great company and great people
Everyone in DioMass for seeing the call in me that I have recognized in me since I was 14
Everyone at St. John's for being a family and their unfailing love and support that they showed me through some amazing times and some very rough times
For my friends Mike and Dave for being friends for over 20 years each, you truly are my brothers
For Jaime, KO and Donnie and Robin for being warm and welcoming and always generous with their time and resources
For Will and Alec, who though you all may be pain in my butts sometimes , you are my brothers and there is nothing I would not do for you all
For mom, you are the rock upon which I have built my life and nothing I can ever say or do will ever truly express what you mean to me
For dad, Uncle Richard, and Grandpa for teaching me everything I needed to know to be me...we will see each other again, that much I am certain about

Here's to another year of great family and great friends.