The Turkey Bowl

When I was growing up we spent Thanksgiving at my grandfather's house. My grandfather had a big old house that seemed to expand endlessly so as to accommodate the Thanksgiving crowd. I used to look forward to Thanksgiving not for the food, but for the cousins - older cousins that I would follow around and around and around, and younger cousins that were fun to play with. My favorite memories are of drawing with my cousin Deborah for hours on end and watching The Sound of Music on Thanksgiving Eve (I never understood how or why The Sound of Music was on TV every Thanksgiving eve for as long as I can remember). And, of course, the Turkey Bowl. My dad was the only relative who had every played football, but somehow he convinced everyone that Thanksgiving was for football, so we played horrible and hysterical football every year.

This year Thanksgiving was a fun reminder of my Thanksgiving's growing up - Oliver spent the entire time following my cousins' kids around and drawing with them. While not everyone was able to make it, all told there were nine second cousins for Oliver to play with - and to adore. It was so wonderful to see the next generation of family together.

Here is Oliver with some of his second cousins.


It was also fun to see the Turkey Bowl tradition continue.


A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!