Ok, so, my Thanksgiving post is a leeeeetle late… Better late than never though. J and I headed over to Orlando to have dinner with his family. J’s parents, brother, aunt, uncle and cousins were all there. We always have a great time together! The day is all about eating and watching National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation”.
This is the obligatory “family around the feast” shot that we take annually. Gotta love tradition!
My dad, his wife and my step-sister came into town at the last minute for Thanksgiving this year too. I had very mixed emotions about seeing them since they have not made an effort to see me since my wedding 11 years ago. My dad had never met his grandchildren. He stood us up three years ago on Christmas and I just was not sure I wanted to face all the drama when my grandmother invited us over for dinner on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But I knew it was very important to my grandmother that she have as many of her family members present as possible. So, I did what I felt was right by her. We went and it was good.
My dad greeted me with the biggest, longest hug and apologized profusely for all that has (or hasn’t) happened in our broken relationship. I’m not ready to delve into my real feelings on this topic yet. I’m still pretty numb when it comes to him. But I will say that the evening was good. Everyone was pleasant and had a great time. That’s the best I could hope for really.
I even brought my camera to take a big family portrait. My uncle was in town from Alabama too. So, my grandmother had all four of her children under one roof that night. We were missing only two cousins and a baby to round out the family picture. I’d say that’s pretty good considering the size of the group!
Adventures of Four 