Giving thanks

Edith had a wonderful time with her dad's family over Thanksgiving. She and all her first cousins were staying at Mom-mom and Pop-pop's house (along with their parents), joined by another approximately 30 second cousins, aunt and uncles, greats, and once- and twice-removeds on Thanksgiving proper. It was non-stop hilarity for the younger set, tempered for the older generations only by a family funeral on Friday that made everyone that much more grateful for a life surrounded by loving relatives and friends. I hope you and yours enjoyed as blessed a holiday.


A concert by cousins Emma (13 months), Edith (18 months), and Santiago (21 months). Somehow cousin Matthew (20 months) slept through it all.

Two little monkeys jumped on the bed. Santiago spent the better part of the weekend trying to teach Edith genuine, two-feet-off-the-ground jumping. She was an avid student and made up for her lack of skills with enthusiasm for the endeavor. Santiago not only could jump, he stuck the landing, finishing each leap up in perfect cross-legged seated position with his arms over his head for a 10.0 score.

Edith was grateful for the lessons...

...and Santiago didn't hold it against her that she was a slow pupil, giving her a warm hug goodbye at the end of the weekend.

At Aunt Sharon's house, Cousin Kim let Bailey out of her crate to greet Edith. Edith was taken with Bailey but even more so with the crate, and while Bailey was busy running circles around the house, Edith crawled right in. When Bailey returned to the room, she was most perplexed to find a toddler had set up residence in her home.

It seems Tom and Kim found the story more engaging than did skeptical Maggie and insolent Edie.

Laughing Magdalene and Edith with Golden Hair almost devoured Tom with kisses.

A happy weekend for Mom and Dad, too, they both were on the winning team in the Seventh Annual Endangered Fox Squirrel Golf Tournament, marking a second tournament win for each (Tom, 2000; Gretchen, 2003) and the first time the victory was decided by a photo-finish putt-out on an extra hole, won for our team in the clutch by its most junior member, 15-year-old Tyler. Was it significant that there were three lefties on the winning team? Three North Carolinians? Or that devotees of the Tarheels and the Wolfpack overcame their differences to achieve stunning combined success on the field of play?



Edith and I got a tour of the old farm buildings from Pop-pop, and Edith was quickly enamoured of the tractor, which she returned to drive several times over the course of the weekend.