In years past we would regularly have over a dozen folks over for an extra large lunch. The adults would gather around the main table in the dining room while we were relegated to the folding “kids table” in the family room. It was still called “the kids table” even as we grew into our teens and twenties.

As family members aged and passed or moved away the crowd on Thanksgiving day steadily shrank. I believe there were a few years just after Emma was born where my parents and my grandfather were the only three around his table.

This year Thanksgiving felt a bit more like old times. With my brother and I both packing a family of four we were already at 10 before sprinkling in a cousin and a neighbor for some variety. The Thanksgiving crowd was up to a dozen again and I had finally graduated to the adults table.

All was right in the world.