After our grandmother died, the big family Thanksgiving went bye bye. No more giant mass of cousins all in one place.
Pretty much every branch of my grandparents kids, and my grandparents siblings' families that were close enough to come, all started their own thing.
It just so happens that my mom and dad only had two kids that lived. Since our first cousins do their thing at weird times, we don't go there. Plus, their mom, my aunt, has turned into a bit of a cunt, and not the good kind.
Which is fine, because my best friend and his husband are fucking great They're family, period. They also have a big ol house, and they work their asses off. So they decided, after my grandmother died and I was expressing the loss of that big family get together, and the closeness I thought was there, to start hosting.
The first year they did it, me, my wife & kid, my dad, my sister and her kid were all there. My mom is a party pooper, and just didn't want to go. Seriously, that's how she's always been, and she says that with her parents gone, she doesn't owe anyone anything in the way of family gatherings.
So, that first year, my bros tell my sister it's a thing, and will be until they're too old to make it happen. We pick a specific date each year though, so that it's on a weekend.
The next year, the same. Then the next year.
Well, this year, my sister decides to wait until two days before the date to ask about it. She's told, as always, of course it's on, drag your ass over there.
For whatever reason, she decided this year, despite the established new tradition and the multiple conversations about it, that she didn't get invited in time to take off from work.
And threw a minor hissy fit about it. I told her to suck the corn out of my holiday poo, she knew the date, she knew she was not only welcome, but that it was a standing invitation to the party/dinner. She didn't even need to confirm or bring anything because there's always too much food.
So she didn't show, but oh well lol
We packed them up enough containers to feed all of them twice and dropped it off.
Fun was had, bellies were filled, the itis washed over the house like a giant, gut rumbling wave of sleep gas.
Thanks. One of my cousins brought a store-bought pumpkin pie instead, but it wasn't the same.
Joking aside, she was 90 and had a major health scare last year so had already made her peace with everyone. She was diagnosed w/ Stage 4 liver cancer a couple months ago and given 4-6 months, even with treatment. Decided to just go to sleep instead. Sad, but she was mentally in control up until the end and it was better to go out now than spend another 4 months dying of cancer for no reason.