Thanksgiving is traditionally a time spent with members of your family. When I was living in Texas, 2000 miles away, I came home for Thanksgiving once and only once. The airports were nightmares (and this was before 9/11 security screenings), the airline lost my luggage and it was a chaotic 72 hours spent in preview of a trip I would be making in a mere three weeks anyway. So I stopped coming for Thanksgivings after that.

When I moved to DC in 1995 it was much easier to go gone for Thanksgiving since it was a 90-minute drive. I liked arrive on Wednesday evening so that I could wake up to the smell of the turkey, a ham, stuffing and all the other sides baking away, my Mom getting up early to get everything started. She would have a checkoff list if everything she was preparing and the order in which it needed to be started. She would have two or three ovens going at the same time, all burners in the stove on and then be using country space as prep area or, more likely, rolling her homemade pie crusts. She’d let us help out: chopping celery or rolling the dough, opening canned goods or getting the table ready. I miss those days.

As my Mother’s ALS progressed to the point where she could not perform these activities, Thanksgiving dinner responsibilities have been passed on to aunt Darlene or, currently, my cousin Deidre. She has a huge Great Room and it’s a good place to hang with your plate and watch the football. We’re never too formal.

A couple of months ago my Dad informed me that my middle brother and sister-in-law were going to visit her family in upstate New York. This means that the kids, my niece and nephew, are going to be out of town for the holiday. Possibly rightfully so, this is my family’s only bonding agent and without their presence everything falls apart. Case in point: my Dad also says to me “I know you sometimes go and do things with your friends or have plans so don’t feel like you have to cone down.” Wow. Not only have I attended the last 13 Thanksgiving dinners (and every other family event during these years) but I’ve also carved the turkey every time. Has this gone unnoticed?

So presented with the opportunity for a skip, I took it. It will give me time to prepare for Saturday’s brunch and the opportunity to sleep in is always good.