The "Get Together"

Thanksgiving at the Farm
2001

Thanksgiving at the Forrester farm doesn’t really start on that special Thursday in November. It starts weeks before with a hint and a question from Mom about three or four weeks before. Shortly afterward an email from a brother or a sister will question what the other will be bringing for the meal. Notes such as these pass for a fortnight discussing who will attend, what they will bring, and a little of the latest happenings in their lives. By the time the day arrives a meal fit for Kings is prepared, and attendees have some background on what is happening with each other. Despite prior knowledge of some things, this is not something you are really ever prepared for. I am the oldest of nine children. Five share my gene pool, and four are adopted. Bill and Deb and I mostly have grown children, and Mark has a mix from diapers to on their own. Actually, Marks oldest daughter has a new baby, and is starting the next generation of Great Grandchildren for my parents. In a short interlude with my mother she told me that she had no idea what would come to be when she and my dad set up house in a little apartment above the river bridge in Burlington fifty some years ago. At that moment there were more than fifty people in and around her house that she and my father were in some way responsible for.
People start arriving early in the morning. In this case Marks daughter Diana and her new baby (with new life pardner) had arrived a day early and planned to stay for the weekend. They had recently come from the West Coast, and had been staying with her parents in Minnesota for a month or so since the baby had been born. They are what we used to call flower children, and very committed to each other, the baby, the planet, and all things good and natural. They make their living by going to the various concerts and happenings around the US and selling home made personal items. Casper (new life pardner) is a site to behold. As much like a hippie as any child of the 60’s. He tells me his parents are like him, and he is the product of his heritage. He was well liked, and accepted into this amalgam as very medium clay. There are worse, and there are better. His status will be determined over the years. My three mostly adult children were together for the first time in many months, and my wife and I were as pleased as punch to break up the wrestling match in the back of our van on the way up. My brother Bill, who is next youngest to me, brought his new lady friend, and even though I know she has met some of these people, I have to think it must have been a little overwhelming to see them all at once in one place, at one time. Bill has been divorced for quite a few years now, and it appears that love has finally come his way, and it pleases us all to know he is happy again. He has two adult daughters who were not able to attend. Mark, Diana’s dad has eleven children. They left for downstate IL after he got off work on the late shift in the factory where he works, and arrived with all intact early Thursday morning. He had gotten about 2 hours sleep, and was tired as can be expected, but obviously pleased to see the place he grew up, and the people he loved. My sister Deb has three mostly adult children who were all able to attend, and as soon as people started arriving cousins who had not seen each other for years left off the conversation, and the play, where they had dropped it when they were last together. Deb has some pretty serious female problems, and will be going into the Hospital the next Monday for surgery. I expect each of my brothers, who can get there, will attend, and I know my mom, and maybe even me will go to her house to take care of her after she gets home. Her husband Bob is a teacher and will have to be away the following Friday, but I know he will take off work the rest of the week to be with her. He is three days younger than I am, and we have been fast friends for many years. He is devoted to Deb and the kids, and the best brother in law a guy could ever ask for. My brother Jeff is married to Michele and they have one adopted son Nate. He is a city boy by nature and nurture. I have heard that he has a game port instead of a left index finger. Nevertheless, when the country cousins show up, he is right in the middle, and makes no bones about staying overnight with them no matter what or who says what. As soon as they arrive, he is out of the truck and running like he never has to stop. I saw him lead a charge of cousins across the creek from our cabin in the woods up the cliff to the Indian mounds like Custer. No fear. Earl and his wife Jodi brought their boy Brandon. Casey brought his live in, and her kids. His first wife showed up later with his genetic kids, and taunted his girlfriend a little. My dad’s cousin’s wife Millie, who was the oldest person there came, and brought my cousin Sharon. I always liked them both, and spent quite a while talking with them about their families.
Lunchtime arrived, and the meal was served. This always turns into a buffet, because no one could set that many people at one place without a banquet hall. Well my brothers and sisters can all cook. They all brought something spectacular, and we all ate until the turkey took over and sat us down for a rest. Brothers and sisters separated off into a nook, or on a couch, to tell each other of their lives, and cousins played outside and at our feet. Mom went from grandchild to grandchild like a happy bee pollinating each one with love as she stopped. Dad drank it in like the freshest water he had drank in years. Too soon afternoon wore on, and family responsibilities caught up with all of us. We started back for our own lives happy and blessed that this could happen one more time. The hippie and his new family were staying the weekend anyway, and I started a fire in our log cabin so it would be warm for the baby when they got there later in the evening. Most of the cousins and brothers had walked or drove down earlier in the day to let the kids get their fill of a place set aside for them forever. This little park in the woods has seen many happy Forresters, and I expect they will come as long as possible. My kids sat in silence for much of the trip home reflecting on what had just happened, and I suspect their cousins had similar rides. The family times at the farm will someday come to an end, and we all know it. But, just one more time we all left full of love and turkey. Very Thankful.
Steve Forrester