My precious Thanksgiving memories:
* Sitting at the "Kid's Table" with Brian and
Stephanie Palvas at our Yia Yia and Papou's house on Taft Street in Gary,
Indiana.
* Moving up to the "Adult Table" at either the
Palvas house or my house.
* Gathering around the TV to cheer on the Chicago Bears
against the Detroit Lions. We didn't care about the other Thanksgiving day game
at Dallas.
* Sometimes, the weather in northwest Indiana was good
enough that Brian, Stephanie, later Ronnie and Mark Cool, others and I could go
outside and have our own football game.
Today, we’re making new memories at our own tables in
Chicago, central Indiana, Denver and Arizona. New adults and grown children sit
at the “big” table and the “Kid’s Table” has been handed down to grandkids. Yia
Yia, Papou and Uncle Bill Palvas are feasting with our Lord in heaven – and either
cheering for or yelling at the Bears.
A line in one of my favorite songs, A Long December by
Counting Crows, is “I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself / To
hold on to these moments as they pass.” I wish I could remember more moments
that have passed, but I am, and will eternally be, thankful for the memories I
have.
