Celebration is always enriching

Sometimes it was at our house, sometimes it was at Stu and Martha’s, sometimes it was in the fellowship hall of a Presbyterian church in Richmond, and once — memorably — it was in Uncle Jim Luginbill’s immaculately cleaned garage.
But wherever it was, the Ronald family Thanksgiving celebration was a warm, enriching event on the calendar.
My father and his siblings and their spouses did their best to gather with my grandmother and grandfather when I was small. And those gatherings continued after my grandparents were gone.
But as Dad’s generation became grandparents themselves, the celebration inevitably focused on individual branches of the family.
In more recent years, the gatherings have been smaller and usually have been hosted by my sister Linda in Richmond.
This year, for the second year in a row, it’s our turn.
And we’ve been talking since the first leaves fell about the logistics of housing, feeding, and entertaining all those people.
Travel is going to be complicated.
Daughter Emily is attending an academic conference in Chicago and will fly in from there. Her husband Mike and our grandson Julian will fly out from Boston and link up somewhere along the line.
Daughter Maggie and her husband Josh will also fly out from Boston, but they’re on a different schedule because of Josh’s job. Among other things, he’s the minister of music at an Episcopal church in Cambridge. So his work week has a structure all its own.
Meanwhile, daughter Sally will drive up from Bloomington, taking a break from law school. She’ll be joined part of the time by her boyfriend Ben, who teaches in Indianapolis.
If you’re counting, that’s seven extra people staying in the house at least part of the week.
As I said, the logistics require some serious planning.
Then, on Thanksgiving Day, we hope to be joined by my sister Linda and her husband Stephen, their daughter Susan and her husband Richard, and my sister Louise.
All told, it adds up to 14 around the table if all the plans come together. Or should I say tables. It’s going to require two tables put together, then a third, long folding table set up in the kitchen for a buffet.
Sounds crowded, complicated, and exhausting.
But I couldn’t be looking forward to it more.
Here’s a wish that your Thanksgiving is just as warm and memorable.[[In-content Ad]]