Two years ago we realized that our holidays would never be the same. Our Mom is 82, severe degenerative disc in the back, very hard to stand. My older sister has a lot of orthopedic problems, fibromyalgia is on SSD. I have MS. Our brother lives out of town, comes in Thanksgiving morning. So our kids have stepped up to the plate. The food isn't always as good but when some one else is cooking and cleaning up, you can't complain. My oldest daughter likes to take it easy. Last year her baby was one month old and she was nursing so we let it slide. This year I told her she can't get by with that. They really like the recipes we always fixed so they try to keep it the same. We have also gone to fancy paper plates.

Our youngest daughters husband is shipping out for his second tour in Iraq Jan 2 so they aren't sure if they are going to stay here for Thanksgiving or go up north to his family. They don't have the money to but want to. Our brothers son has a new job. He is at that point in his life where the older you get, the smarter your parents become. So my brother and his wife have told him that if he can't get off for Thanksgiving, they won't come so they can stay with him. So it might be a small group.