Happy Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving is here! They seem to be coming so fast now that I am getting older. I wish I could say they make me happy, but as each one passes lately, it seems as if another of my beloved family has passed away. This will be the first Thanksgiving without my Aunt Gloria. I hate the fact that our Thanksgiving table is getting smaller and smaller. I miss the days when the house was full of aunts, friends, nephews, and grand children. I have so much to be thankful for, I just miss those happier carefree Thanksgivings of years ago...before my mother had a stroke...before my Dad got Alzheimer's...before my sister-in-law died...before my brother got divorced...before my nephews grew up and before my brother killed himself.  Yes, we have had our share of traumas,  but no more or less than any other family. The love is strong no matter how many of us are left, but it seems the chorus is missing vital parts. The baritones are overpowering now.