A new celebration is born

 "Are you almost ready", shouted my husband from the bedroom.  I"t seems like you've been in there for hours and we've got to get on th road early to avoid all the holiday traffic."

'Just give me a few more minutes."

I stood looking in the mirror, trying to put on just the right amount of makeup to cover up the frown lines on my face to hide how nervous I was feeling at meeting my mother's new husband.  

My parents had been divorced for over fifteen years.  I was only 10 when they broke the news to my sister Joanne and I  that they had decided to go separate ways.  I learned years later that my father was a gambler and lost all his money and ours to a bad night of dice rolling.  My mother was a very religious woman and couldn't tolerate such intolerable acts of sin.

After the divorce holiday celebrations changed in our household.  The turkey and cranberry sauce became a little smaller (one less mouth to feed), the TV station changed from football to Hallmark Hall of Fame holiday movies and the walk around the lakeshore cabin.

After the divorce my mom decided to go back to school and received her master's degree in Education.  She took a job working in an elementary school, and her whole demeanor changed from anger to acceptance.  But she swore she would never marry again.

All that changed when she and her close friends from work attended a teacher conference in San Diego.  She was registered for a writing workship and got paired up with Frank, one of the teachers from a neighboring school. Before she knew it, they developed a friendship that mushroomed into a a whirlwind romance.

Then, three weeks ago my mother called to tell me that she had married Frank and was planning a special Thanksgiving dinner at the cabin.  

"Joanne is bringing the dessert and I need you to bring up a few good bottles of wine."  "Bring like two bottles of white and two bottles of red."

"That's alot of wine.  "There's only a few of us."

"Well Frank has quite a large family, and they will be at the dinner as well."  "Just do what I ask please. If its about the money, you'll get jt back."

"No, mom.  Its not about the money."  "Its not one of my favorite holidays; it hasn't been since I was a kid."

"Oh, stop sulking. "It will be great."  "And I know you're going to like Frank and his family."

"Okay mom, well be there."

So that is why I was standing in front of the full length mirror with fear and trepidation for the uncomfortable evening ahead of me.

I had bought the wine and an additional case of Corona beer (to get me though the night in case I needed one.)  It took us two hours to reach the cabin and by then I seemed to have calmed down a little bit.

As soon as the car turned into the snowy driveway my mother was there to greet us.  She was not wearing her coat, and the first thing I notice was the huge diamond ring on her left hand.  The diamond caught the rays of the sun upon her face and she looked angelic standing there.

Come on in and let me introduce you to Frank.

Frank was a good looking man, with dark brown hair and eyes to match.  He looked to be about 50 or at least five years my mother's senior.  I immediately felt comfortable with him and my fears disipated.

Frank explained to me that he had been married to his wife for over 30 years when she suddenly died of cancer.  He had two sons, Charlie (19), Robby (23) and his older daughter Nancy (25). He had been teaching at the Westfield Elementary school when he and my mother met.

We had only been talking for about twenty minutes when the door bell rang, and one person after another filling the tiny cabin up to capacity.

My mother had finished putting the final touches on the table and called everyone to the table.  She brought ou a huge turkey, a ham, mashed potatoes and a couple of other dishes that I never knew she could make.  My eyes were almost popping out of their sockets when I saw the table set as I never have before.

Frank stood up and clinked his glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention.  "Thank you all for joining me tonight as we meld with Toni, my new wife, and her family."  "So tonight we begin a new celebration of Thanksgiving."  "Please all raise your glasses and let us know what you are greatful for.  

There we sixteen of us at that table and each took their turn telling what they were grateful for.

Mom handed the uncarved turkey to Frank, who said a blessing over the bread and carved the turkey flawlessly in front of us and we were ready to eat.

"Why did you say a blessing over the bread, and what was that strange language you were speaking in?"

"We are Jewish, and I was making a prayer over the btead in hebrew."  "Didn't your mother tell you that I was a different faith than hers".

"No," I said a little embarrassed by my ignorance."

"Well don't worry,  Thanksgiving is a celebration for everone, no matter how rhey practice their faith.  "Pass the mashed potatoes, please".

I laughed heartily and passed the potatoes.

The skies had darkened and we were all sitting in the living room.  Frank got up from the couch and turned on the television.  "Football time everybody!  The men gathered around the TV set, and the women retired to the kitchen. 

For the first time in years, Thanksgiving was a holiday that I would follow with a new excitement.

I walked back into the living room and asked "Who's up for a walk around the lake?"