All Together Now...

I confess, I was bad this weekend. Not just bad as in overindulging in festive treats (because goodness knows that happened as well), but bad as in I didn't manage to take any photos. But, when you have as gifted a photographer in the family as my cousin, Sheri, there doesn't seem to be much point. I stole some of her pictures off of Facebook, which is why the image quality is a little shaky, but trust me, she is brilliant at what she does. So, with no further ado, here is a photographic journey through our Thanksgiving with the Ingrassias:

Even though we aren't religious, Dad was asked to lead part of the pre-dinner blessing. He also ad-libbed a few words of remembrance for our family who are no longer with us, which was a nice touch.

Aunt Faye enjoyed my "S" cookies, and she's also indulging in another family tradition in this photo: chocolate pudding served in yellow melamine cups. My great-grandmother, Nana, would always make pudding and serve it in similar cups when her grandchildren would come to visit. Although I can't remember her doing it when I was a child, it is something that Dad's generation looks back fondly upon.

I enjoyed moderate success in the annual bingo game. This year, I won a nice photo album and a box of candy with five dollars taped to it. Mom won a lovely art nouveau-inspired coffee cup and a deck of cards.

The day after Thanksgiving, part of the family met up for pizza at my favorite St. Louis pizza place, Dewey's. Their heavenly crust and fresh toppings are the one culinary aspect of St. Louis that I've missed since I graduated. I think we made a lot of converts that day.

There are a lot of kids in the family these days, and this is just a small fraction of them. From right to left: Cousin Julie's son Max, Aunt Carolyn's son Nate, Aunt Faye's daughter Courtney, and Cousin Julie's daughter Cecelia. The kids got a huge kick out of watching the chefs make the pizzas behind the large picture windows looking into the kitchen.

Dad and I enjoyed my favorite pizza topping combination: Canadian bacon and green olives. I know it sounds odd, but somehow it really works. We've been eating it on pizzas in our family ever since I can remember.

It was great to see everyone again this year, and to keep alive all of the traditions that our family has acquired throughout the years. We even watched some old home movies this year, most notably a tape from my first Thanksgiving with the family back in 1985, when I was seven months old. Much has changed since then: my cousins Daniel and TJ were infants that year as well, but there have been many marriages, new babies, and sadly, deaths in the past 24 years. A lot of things are still the same, however. We still use the same oval Chinet plates, eat the same rice and ground beef stuffing, and the same green beans almondine. We still gather gather around the food to say grace before we fill our plates, and we still spend the day "ooo"-ing and "aah"-ing over the new babies in the family. No matter how the faces change in the years to come, I'm sure that these things, at least, will remain the same.