Chemo Week 4, Day 3 THANKSGIVING

 Our Thanksgiving was FANTASTIC!! 

Matt made three huge trays of his famous sausage stuffing, plus a ham. And I made peanut butter brownies and mint brownies.  Then we set off for my sister Melanie's house in Woodstock, VA.  Traffic was surprisingly placid so we arrived in record time.  Actually we arrived almost exactly at 11:00 and pulled up in front at the same time as my Aunt Marianne who drove from Lynchburg.  

My sister Melanie is THE party planner in our family.  Her house is always festively decorated and her bathroom always has fancy towels, soaps and smelly candles.  I'm always impressed! Her husband, Doug, who is 11 feet tall and generally dressed like a thin Paul Bunyan, was busy in the kitchen fussing over the turkey and a half dozen other pots and pans emitting delicious smells. Her two adorable children : Amy and Christopher who always have energy and joy coming out of their ears were bouncing around my boys before they could even get out of the car.  

My older sister Melissa lives close by and so soon her and her teenage entourage had joined the throng.  She has four : Michael (the serious adult who is fantastic with children), Luke (the social bee who could converse with anyone), Annie (the blossoming beauty who brings fashion and grace wherever she goes) and Diana (aka 'Deeg' who is tall and athletic but still can hang with the youngins).  My mother arrived from West Virginia bearing fruit and fresh spring water.  Marianne brought with her my cousin Mackenzie and her very polite gentleman friend Brandon, and my cousin Kiernan (the brooding but delightful teenager).  And to complete our ensemble my cousin Kimmi and her Bobby came up from Lynchburg too with pies and hugs to share. 

The house became a pulsing beacon of laughter and hugs and conversation! The children ran around like hooligans and jumped into leaf piles and swung on swings in the yard. The adults greedily consumed my aunt's DELICIOUS crab dip, telling ourselves we would save room for the main event.  But we really didn't care because her crab dip is THAT GOOD! 

Around 2:00 Mellie tasked some of us with setting up "the table".  This involved pulling in several 6 ft folding tables and chairs she'd borrowed from the church.  She has lovely mismatched tablecloths and cloth napkins that I folded into peaks for her.  (Muscle-memory left over from my days as a wedding bartender).  Once the table was laid, cutting a line through Doug and Mellie's circular floorplan, the food began to appear on it. Steaming plates of turkey, stuffy, garlic roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, beer bread and brown bread rolls.  Everything was absolutely delicious!! We ate until we were stuffed and then most of us ate a bit more -- I cannot resist those carrots! 

It was such a wonderful day! People kept hugging me and asking how I was feeling. Kimmi shoved me onto the couch and covered me with a blanket, then wouldn't take no as answer as she chose and ordered me four different wigs!  Aunt Marianne reminded me, several times, to get anointed by a priest and my mother splattered me with holy water.  Melissa and Melanie wanted to hear every detail about my last few appointments. Bobby and Doug and Arick checked in with Matt to see that he was coping with everything. They all just needed to hear and see that we were doing okay. It is good to be loved.  And I am soooo loved.