The Morning After

Thanksgiving was memorable - in a good way.  We usually go to the farm with Neal's sisters but they wanted to come here this year so I'd planned for them at the table.  Neal had extended various random invitations to his kids but we only heard back from his former son-in-law and older grandson.  On Wednesday I sent a text to one of his daughters to see if she had decided to come.  Her reply was that she hadn't figured out details yet and might go to her mom's in Port Townsend.  So I planned for Neal's sisters and niece and nephew plus Jim and Isaac - 8 at the table.  I used a reddish-gold tablecloth with our white bone china and Waterford goblets and it was gorgeous.  I did not remember to take a photo - gack!  After cooking for two days, I was almost ready when the guys arrived.  Lisa and Margaret came in with the last dishes for the meal, the rolls came out of the oven, some things went into the oven to be reheated and the phone rang.  It was Neal's granddaughter who wanted to speak to her brother, and told him that she and her mom and her aunt and her half-brother would be along in about an hour to have dessert.  Um, what?
The food was ready and we sat down.  I'll take a moment here to document all the food on the table: turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, butter, relish dish with olives, pickles and pickled beets, green beans with French fried onions, cranberry pineapple salad, pumpkin manicotti, pea salad, yams with pecan topping, a choice of sparkling beverages and ice water to drink.  (The last three dishes were made by Neal's sisters.)  It was an amazing spread and we enjoyed all of it. There were lots of comments like "Is this in the cookbook?"  We had just cleared the table and were working on putting leftovers in containers to go to various homes when the rest of the family arrived for dessert.  I had made two desserts - pumpkin cheesecake with sour cream topping and pumpkin crisp. Pumpkin crisp was a new recipe but was well-received.  Everyone ate something for dessert and we visited for about two hours before Neal's daughters and grandkids left to have dinner in Sammamish at the oldest daughter's house. 
I watched Neal with his whole family in the same room for the first time in years and was happy for him that he could experience such a gathering.  It was what he had wanted and in spite of my frustrations with lack of communication, I am so glad it happened.  He had a slight breathing episode during the meal that concerned me and made me realize how fragile life is and wonder how many more Thanksgivings we'll have together. 
Neal's sisters and niece and nephew were last to leave but before they left they moved all of the furniture out of the family room.  It's very crowded in the living room right now but the carpet installer has arrived and is installing our new carpet this morning.  I'm so excited about that!