Another memory

I got to sleep in until nearly 9 am.  It was delicious.  I could think of many Thansgiving days where crack of dawn was the norm.  This year it's just the three of us and we can do as we like, eat when it's done - no pressure.

After Hank spread his famous salsa all over the kitchen, Andrea and I cleaned up the mess and got to work.  With delicious pumpkin roll already made and ready to slice, the turkey and fixin's were the order of the day.  With each step, Andrea would ask, "Wat is dat, Mama?"  At the ranch, I cooked turkey on a rotisserie - we didn't have the use of an oven.  I would explain to her and smile at the wonder on her face.  Did I have that look when I was young?  At her age, I was cooking turkey!

It is so cool to look into her sparkly black eyes and see the newness of nearly everything she does.  Mostly, it's smaller kids who still have that wonder, but having just left Mexico, everything is new for her. That makes it new for us as well.  It's like having a baby when you are old.  You never knew how wonderful they could be. 

 It really is different, you know.  During the last 11 years, I had tiny babies many times, often more than one.  Andrea was one of those babies.  I adored my children when they were born, was in awe of God and the process of birth, but I worried how they would turn out.  I worried that I couldn't do the job well.  I worried what others would say.  When you are older, you just don't care about those things.  Their importance is low on the list. 

My first Thanksgiving with Andrea, she weighed just 10 pounds.  She was 8 1/2 months old.  She had doubled her weight in a month.  There was no awe in her face.  She was struggling for survival.  Not so now.  She is full of awe at every turn and we are full of her.  What a grand pleasure!

So the meal came out of the oven late, about six pm.  It didn't matter what time we ate, because it was just the 3 of us.  Andrea could not believe the big, browned turkey!  She wondered why I called it a bird and I reminded her of the turkeys we kept at the ranch.  Her eyes opened wide!  I could almost see her thoughts and the resolution not to eat that thing.  Dressing was my way this year and I put some of that, some turkey, yams and peas on her plate.  Robert got a leg.  We took pictures.  We ate.  They stuffed themselves.  I nibbled.  After cooking all day, I wasn't really hungry.  Everything was delicious.  I wish you could have seen Andrea's first bite of candied yams!  It was phenomenal!  Her eyes actually watered and she said, "Mom!  I didn't know dis would taste like dat!"

We'll have more Thanksgivings together and maybe they will be more commonplace.  This one, however, was one in a million.  I can't wait for Christmas.

We are truly blessed.