Thanksgiving 2018

My family and I have celebrated five of the last six Thanksgivings with Carol.

This year she's in Germany, and I haven't been looking forward to Thanksgiving at all. Instead of a fun day with my best friend, I anticipated a long day spent alone in the kitchen, while the rest of my family acted bored and played with their devices.  

And, in fact, that did happen.

But somehow, it all ended up being okay. 

The food was plentiful and good, and the conversation was as sparkly as the Martinelli's.

Everybody cleaned their plates...

 and saved a little room for dessert.

After dinner, Carol's daughter, Cara, and her dog, Riley, came over for a visit. We played with the dogs, talked and told Carol stories. It was really nice.

 This was the quietest Thanksgiving in recent memory, but it was still a good one. For that, I am very thankful.