Thanksgiving is now

Everyone was here for a celebration feast last night. It was Evan's birthday, which is reason enough for a celebration, but there was more to it than that. It was also close to the one year anniversary of the transplant that converted Karl's stem cells into Evan's lifeblood. More importantly even than that, was that we were able to say that it was the anniversary of the SUCCESSFUL transplant.
All of this celebrating was rather last minute and spontaneous (Evan just received the official report on Tuesday). While we knew Karl and Alissa Diane planned to visit this weekend, Evan's news spurred Kit and Violet's decision to make the drive, too. Knowing that Alyssa wouldn't want to miss out on this event, I called her late Thursday (11-ish) to let her know we were going to celebrate. She squeezed the trip into her schedule as well. As she so aptly put it, "We all came together when Evan was diagnosed with Hodgkins, it's only fitting that we all come together when he gets the news of remission." We even had a little visit from Jeannine and Rick who joined us for a little "pre-sert" birthday cake on their way (don't let them kid you, it was really out of their way) from Eau Claire to Racine. (Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting - 1 stick butter, 1 cup peanut butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 3-4 TBSP milk and a little vanilla -- try it some time with your favorite chocolate cake; it's a great combination.)
Nephew Joel also came down the road to join us for a celebration harvest menu: Roast beef and roast pork (Paul's Angus and Evan and Joel's pork); acorn squash (monsters from our garden); apple and quince compote (apples, quince and dried cranberries stewed with cinnamon, ginger and splash of pumpkin wine); green bean casserole, mashed red potatoes with gravy and rolls. And, of course, birthday cake. The table was full and so we were. The evening was rounded out with rather eclectic music selections (Nat King Cole to Modest Mouse), some rousing games of Yahtzee and conversation.
Evan was up bright and early to make breakfast for all: corn bread (we call it Johnny Cake) with our own maple syrup and breakfast links made from the pork he raised. Another harvest celebration. These bountiful meals are splashed all over magazine covers at this time of year to get us enthused for the holiday season to come. For us, the enthusiasm was plentiful. Even though the calendar may say the official date is three weeks away, Thanksgiving is now.