Following the Turkey down Memory Lane

Thanksgiving always makes me think of family.  We aren't a big group - five cousins from my mom's side, three from my dad's.  We spent our holidays in one of three places.  We sometimes went to my mother's mom who lived in Brigham City.  More often we went to my dad's mom who lived less than a mile from us.  (I walked that route, rain, shine, and snow more times than I can count.  I miss it, and her.)  We frequently stayed home and people would come to us.  We were the only kids in the valley at the time and it was easier, I think, for my grandparents and my aunt to visit us as they could send us off to bed when we got cranky.  My aunt was much younger than my dad and had her children later.  I was nearly grown when her first was born.  We started spending holidays at her home so when her kids got cranky...well you get it.  (Sorry, ladies, you did get cranky.)
Anyway, I miss those holidays.  Even though our family has made its own traditions based on Mike's family and our own children, I recall moments of those holidays as though they happened yesterday.  On Thanksgiving Thursday I made pies using the rolling pin in the photo.  It belonged to my Grandma Haynes.  (My younger cousins called her Grandma Lucy.)  She made her pie crust with lard and cooked her chicken for HOURS.  I could never duplicate her cooking.  I very much love having something from her kitchen, though.  Every time I use it I think about standing at her kitchen counter 'helping' her make something delicious.  Yeah, I bet I was quite a help back then.  Her kitchen seemed huge to me.  Later when my sister was living in that house I realized it was tiny.  I think it was Grandma that made it seem big.  She had room for all of us in there.
Happy holidays.