self-portrait Tuesday

Lucy van Pelt: [holding football] Charlie Brown! Oh, Charlie Brown!
Charlie Brown: I can't believe it. She must think I'm the most stupid person alive.
Lucy van Pelt: Come on, Charlie Brown. I'll hold the ball and you kick it.
Charlie Brown: Hold it? Ha! You'll pull it away and I'll land flat on my back and kill myself.
Lucy van Pelt: But Charlie Brown, it's Thanksgiving.
Charlie Brown: What's that got to do with anything?
Lucy van Pelt: Well, one of the greatest traditions we have is the Thanksgiving Day football game. And the biggest, most important tradition of all is the kicking off of the football.
Charlie Brown: Is that right?
Lucy van Pelt: Absolutely. Come on, Charlie Brown. It's a big honor for you.
Charlie Brown: Well, if it's that important, a person should never turn down a big honor. Maybe I *should* do it. Besides, she wouldn't try to trick me on a traditional holiday. This time I'm gonna kick that football clear to the moon!
[he runs to kick the ball, but Lucy pulls it away]
Charlie Brown: Aaauuugh!
[falls flat on his back]
Lucy van Pelt: Isn't it peculiar, Charlie Brown, how some traditions just slowly fade away?

isn't it peculiar? some traditions do just slowly fade away. when i was growing up in a household of six, with one or more grandparent always within an easy trip, Thanksgiving had different traditions for me. i was fortunate to grow up in a house with formal dining room, and for Thanksgiving, it was set with my parent's wedding china and dishes overflowing with the "standard" dishes. we even had a swinging door that led to the kitchen, which made a pleasant *wooshing* sound as dinner plates were replaced with dessert. seated around the table were often friends mixed in with family, and cousins wearing plaid skirts and mary janes.

every once in a while, we traveled up to Connecticut to visit Grammie (who actually lived in a condominium!!) we even had our own version of "Over the River..." (Around the corner, and through the trees, and here we are at Gramm-eeees!)

and some years, Grabbie and Pop-Pop hosted the big meal. and there was always a plate with a stack of white bread on it for Uncle Bob. memories. i cherish every one of them.

it's different now. some traditions have faded away (i can't imagine putting a stack of white bread on the dinner table). but new ones are growing in their place. even as i sit here remembering my Norman Rockwell-esque childhood holiday, i am smiling about more recent memories - those i've created over the past ten years with my family of three.


erickson Thanksgiving table, c. 2008

Happy Thanksgiving week to you and yours!! may your life be filled with an endless abundance of traditions!


with Grabbie, c. 1974