As Thanksgiving approaches I think it is only natural for all of us to think back in time to the way Thanksgiving was celebrated in our homes as children. Some of us remember special times with extended family gathered at a long table or around the house. When I was a kid there was a predictable pattern to Thanksgiving. We grew up living next to my mother's parents who were part of my everyday life. The cooking would begin early and both houses would be full of the smells of onions, sage, thyme, rosemary and all encapsulated in the warm steam created by all the cooking. It was always an exhausting day, filled with both the joys and the craziness that typifies family.
Now when I say craziness, I think everyone knows what I mean. Families have patterns and dynamics that interweave all of our interactions. Surely some of these dynamics play out more positively or more negatively in different family systems. As of these memories tend to come back, unless they were traumatic, we usually remember the more positive ones.
Among the siblings birth order has a lot to do with the interplay between parents, grandparents, and children. A friend of mine clipped a page out of a catalog recently on which there were three T-shirts you could purchase. The first T-shirt was printed with 'I am the oldest , I make the rules". The second T-shirt said "I am the youngest the rules don't apply to me" . The third T-shirt, the one most appropriate for me personally said " I'm the middle I'm the reason we had rules " !
No matter what your family is like , or how widely spread they are across the country with the world I do hope you have a marvelous Thanksgiving day.
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