Thanksgiving has always been the Alexander family holiday. Growing up Alexander meant helping Mom get Thanksgiving dinner on the table. My mother was organized! Mom worked so she needed to be in order to get it all done--and she made it look easy. Over the years, she developed a series of recipes that could be made in advance. She made lists and doled out the jobs--bring up the tables and chairs, pat the butter, vacuum, dust, make ice cubes. The meal was always elegant. Even if it was served buffet style, we never ate on paper-plates.
Mom would not have been able to do all of this without her four helpers. Of course, as much as we complained about helping, the one thing that we did learn over our long apprenticeship was how to entertain large groups. The guest list was never the same but it was always long--grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends. Why go through all this hassle for just a handful of people? The more the merrier.
For my children, the annual Thanksgiving trip to Nan and Pop's was a big sleepover party with the cousins. It was the only time in the year that we could count on to all be together and no one wanted to miss anything by staying in a hotel--even if it meant sleeping on sofa beds and in bunk beds and all of us sharing the two bathrooms. It was just great to be together.
The face of Thanksgiving has changed over the years but at its core it has always been THE Alexander family holiday.
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