Thanksgiving Eve

It is 10:24 on the night before Thanksgiving. I have made the stuffing, (no chicken livers or sausage,) and I have the red sauce made for the stuffed shells. I got worried about the size of turkey Roser picked out, so I am making a tray of Ricotta stuffed shells to go with the Thanksgiving dinner. We will be having a total of twenty people including my nuclear family. This is the smallest Thanksgiving, I think, we have ever hosted. My sister-in-law will be bringing many dishes.

With me, in the kitchen, is the spirit of my Nana. She is always there for the big occasions. She was the most amazing bombshell of a grandma ever. She always wore false eyelashes, and low-cut blouses. She was the kindest, least cynical person I have ever known. In spite of a shockingly difficult childhood and marriage, she always saw the best in everyone. Many of the recipes I make are from her. Oh, did I mention? She was a phenomenal cook. I strive to be like her. The vacuum she left when she died, about eight years ago, can never be filled, but I am always motivated to try.

Tomorrow my home will be filled with family members and close family friends. There will be laughter, and dramatic shows of emotion. We are Italian after all. There will be stress and I will get pissy. That's my own personal tradition. I will be exhausted at the end of it, but more than anything else, I will be grateful.
Grateful that my extended family thinks enough of me to come to my house for Thanksgiving;
Grateful that my family and my husband’s family get along, not only get along, but love each other and enjoy spending time together.
I am grateful for the abundance in my life, abundance of love, abundance of food, abundance of stubborn, over-bearing, often controlling people, who love me and my family enough to give me their not often asked for opinions, their seldom asked for support, and their always needed belief in me.
I am also grateful, ultimately grateful to God, from whom all blessings flow. I am humbled at the path my life has taken. I deserve no more than anyone else, and yet my life is filled with comfort and love and support. I cannot express my thanks to my Father in Heaven, and I do not try often enough.