Ask Annie for Nov. 26, 2003 Dear Readers,
Sometimes I catch myself being shallow and stupid, like the other day when I was shopping for our big Thanksgiving dinner.
I saw some beautiful napkins and table ware I could only afford to buy for about eight people, the average size gathering, I suppose, instead of the fifty-some that show up for our turkey and trimmings. Okay, turkeys! One is never enough.
For a brief moment, I thought wistfully of a dinner where everyone could sit at one table, and use real dishes instead of paper plates. The only ones with enough dishes for our family gatherings are restaurants, and we'd need their dishwashers afterwards, too, if we used china and silver. But then I thought, "Who would you do without?" The uncles that keep up on current world events and like to argue politics, but are so clever the rest of us can't keep up, so they have to argue with each other? Our ninety-one year old Gramma, whose presence we treasure and who tells stories so rarely now, everyone in earshot stops whatever they're doing to listen when she speaks? The teenagers, who so soon will be gone, some of them, like my son, to serve our country and only God knows if they'll ever return? Need to see the babies before they grow up, and of course we need their moms to hand them back to when baby smells suspicious. Have to keep the aunts who cook and the uncles who haul in boxes and laundry baskets of food. Wouldn't want to miss out on the little kids, with their wild imaginations and silly conversations.
So I guess it's paper plates and all of us again this year, and, God willing, the next and the next and the next...
Love,
Annie
Please write to: Annie, P.O. Box 1084, Eatonville,WA 98328
E-mail: letters_annie@hotmail.com
Past Ask Annies:
Nov. 26, 2003 Big Family Thanksgiving with Paper Plates
Nov. 12, 2003 Husband Driven Nuts To Do Crafts By Wife
Nov. 5, 2003 Dreading Husband's Retirement
Oct. 29, 2003 Move back home from boyfriend's house?
Oct. 22, 2003 Did I raise my daughter to do these things?
Oct. 15, 2003 Misunderstanding about School Workers' Kindness
Oct. 8, 2003 Prayer for Brown Sisters Killed and Change Schoolyear to Oct.1 to June 30
Oct. 1, 2003 Response About Non-tipping Lotto Winner
Sept. 24, 2003 Church-goers Inattentive
Sept. 17, 2003 Friend Sells My Stuff on Ebay
Sept. 10, 2003 Lottery Winner Didn't Tip Clerk
Sept. 3, 2003 Business Insults to Consumers
Aug. 27, 2003 Divison of Wedding Expense
Aug. 20, 2003 School Workers' Kindness & Men's Attractiveness
Aug. 13, 2003 Attractiveness Hints
Aug. 6, 2003 Annie's Husband's Accident at Work
July 30, 2003 Deer Automatic Sprinkler Best & Stores Don't Stock Washington Clothes
July 23, 2003 Scarecrows and Halloween Decorations Scare Off Prowlers Too
July 16, 2003 Redhead Asks Attractiveness Advice
July 2, 2002 Atomatic Deer Scarecrow Blasts Prowler