I love Thanksgiving! It’s the one time of year my whole family gets together. We live quite a ways from each other and all lead separate lives, so it’s really wonderful to see everyone again.
This year was particularly special. The clan ranged in age from 15 months to 99 years. If that’s not the life-span, I don’t know what is! My grandma’s 99, but you’d never know it with as active as she is.

Grandma’s birthday is December 1 so it’s always just after Thanksgiving. Because she turned 99 this year, we threw her a surprise party at a local restaurant. My aunt had made reservations and we had an entire room to ourselves. With a party of 17, it was needed!
The day of the party (the day after Thanksgiving), we talked about what to have for dinner.” Pizza? Delivery would be easy. Leftovers? All in order to throw Grandma off, of course. It worked.

Several of us went back to the hotel and changed before heading to the restaurant. When we got there, Grandma was seated in the middle, surprised at the festivities. A cake saying Happy Birthday with all the names people call her. Grandma, Mom, Val, Valeria, Great Grandma, and Great-great Grandma. She was crowned with a tiara and there were two balloons shaped as 9s.

She was so surprised she was crying as she tried to speak, thanking us for how special we made her feel. She insisted she has the best family of anyone in the world. It was a great celebration.

By the way, this picture is current.  It actually snowed on Thanksgiving  in Southern California this year!