We’ve just returned from a quick Thanksgiving trip south – for warmer climes and family.  After large dinners and feasts, this group gathered together at my parents’ house.  Following both my mother’s and father’s deaths in the past year, their house of 57 years has many things in need of clearing and cleaning.  This group of people who I am so happy to claim as family all chipped in with sweat, work and lots of laughter to fill a huge dumpster in a short period of time. Decisions were made on what to save, what to donate, and what to pitch.  The pool table in the basement required the strength of the younger generation, along with the assistance of a chain saw and many recommendations (some heeded and some not) to find its way up the stairs to the dumpster.  What could have been a week-long project filled with angst and tears, became a joyful celebration of the family that my parents were so proud of.