My husband cooked the turkey on a prior Thanksgiving at our home in Pacific Palisades.
Almost any relative, family member living outside of California, welcomed an invitation to a Thanksgiving Dinner in Los Angeles and specifically to Pacific Palisades because of the fine weather and the beautiful views of mountains and the ocean.
For the past 10 years, the day started with the turkey in the oven, before family and friends went over early for the Turkey Trot. The annual run became a reunion of kids gone away to college and seeing parents one hadn’t seen since kids graduated.
Afterwards, back at the house, each person was assigned some task with Thanksgiving. Since my children were little, they were expected to help in the preparation, whether it was setting the table, or putting the food in plates, or whipping cream. As they got older, they were assigned to preparing one of the sides or making the desert.
Because this is California, dinner was always served outside on the patio around 2 p.m. Before anyone was allowed to touch their plate, each person was required to say out loud what they were thankful for.
After the feast, with doggies in tow, the family and friends walked down Temescal Canyon to the beach. Most years, the dolphins would play in the bay, and we were treated to the show. As the sun was starting to set, we’d walk back up the hill and have dessert a choice of three or four different pies.
The Palisades Fire changed all that. This year, I’m in Los Angeles, and I sent my husband to celebrate Thanksgiving with our three kids in Texas.
I am missing my family’s typical Thanksgiving, and I mentioned that to Jimmy Dunne, the eternal optimist, who sent me this note: “This is a song of thanksgiving. To the extraordinary, wondrous world we’re all so privileged to be in for this moment in time. A song of gratitude for the ‘little things’ in life…
It’s the Little Things
by JIMMY DUNNE
From the moment that you wake up
Do you feel like you’re behind
Is there so much that you’re supposed to do
Just dancing in your mind
Here’s a little nugget
That I hope you take to heart
It sounds like it’s so simple
But it truly is an art
It’s the little things
It’s the little things that matter most in life
It’s the heart you bring
It’s the song you sing
It’s the little things that matter most in life
When you rock a baby in your arms
And place her in her bed
When you read a story to a child
Oh, the dance inside her head
When you look out at the moon
On one hand, it’s so far
Yet everything you dreamed for
Is just right where you are
It’s the little things
It’s the little things that matter most in life
It’s the heart you bring
It’s the song you sing
It’s the little things that matter
the home of love and laughter
The gentle things that keep a heart alive
It’s the little things…
that matter most in life
If I were at the table and it would be my turn to express what I’m most thankful for this Thanksgiving, this is what I would say:
“I’m thankful for my husband, my kids, my mom and family (far away) and my dogs. I’m thankful for the friends who have stood by and supported me through this terrible/stressful time and to the new people who have come into my life since the Palisades Fire.”
Have a Thankful Day!
Oh, Sue, you and Jimmy Dunne are making me cry! And you’re leading the way in making me reflect, as well.
Have a positive Thanksgiving.
Sue I truly understand how you feel.
Our family would walk from my aunt’s home on Radcliffe to the Bluffs. She died several years ago and last year I was so proud to host at my new townhome in The Highlands, which was destroyed in the fires.
I’m grateful to be spending the day with my cousin and his family and sad about lost traditions.
I’m so thankful to you for publishing this newspaper.
This just makes my heart hurt.