Thanks Giving Cypress

The picture above is a photo of the "Lone Cypress" located in Pebble Beach, California. It is a tree that represents Thanks Giving to me. For years and years my family drove from the L.A. area to Monterey (about 6 hours north) to spend our Thanks Giving with my grandmother on my dad's side. The memories I have of the house on Crest Rd. will forever have a special place in my heart. We would take walks in the mini forest behind the house, often spotting deer, or deer poop at the very least. I have fond memories of my brother and I playing pine cone baseball with branches and "off-road golf" with my grandfather's old golf clubs or playing "cops'n'robbers" with my sister and Olivia, the basset hound whom we called 'Livers'. We, as a family, would drive down to "favorite beach", a beach whose real name I don't even know, to go tide-pooling. Sometimes we would visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and no Thanks Giving was complete without a walk down the Fisherman's Warf. Thanks Giving was not just a day to me, it was the whole weekend. It was sleeping in the wing of the house that was always 5 degrees colder than the rest of the rooms. It was being woken up by my sister and the dog jumping into my bed with the smell of pancakes wafting into my room. It was watching "My Cousin Vinny", my grandma's favorite movie (as far as I knew). It was the drive we took passing "Darth Vader's House" and Clint Eastwood's former home and...The Lone Cypress.

Now, my grandmother lives in an assisted living home outside of Seattle and the Crest Rd. house, while still in my families possession, is being rented out to a used car salesman (last I heard). Thanks Giving has not felt like Thanks Giving since we stopped going to Monterey. From what I remember, the first TG that took place at my parent's Redondo Beach home was when I was a Junior at UCSD. I remember because I was not present. I was in Manchester U.K. visiting my girl friend at the time. I remember not feeling like missing it was a big deal because no one was going anywhere. I was absent one other time as well while I was living in Finland. I ate a bacon cheeseburger from Hesburger that night.

My dad asked me if there was anyone I wanted to bring to TG dinner. I immediately said "no" without thinking twice. Then I remembered that my friend Alex said his mom was moving to Germany so I decided to ask him. Then I remembered that he said she wasn't planning on moving until the new year. I decided to ask him anyway. He politely declined and thanked me for the offer. Besides, as I think more about it, I don't think that is what my dad intended. While I know he would take in any friend of mine, I got the impression he meant a lady friend.

Thanks Giving will be, yet again, just a fancy dinner and a 4 day weekend.