I promise, posting is not a fad I was into that has now passed! This laptop thing is just really throwing me off my posting game! (and, no, I'm not even going to link back to the laptop story, because I am so. darn. mad. about. the. whole. thing.)
Thanksgiving was great at the convent, as always. There were 18 of us this year, including my in-laws who flew in from Pittsburgh. We picked them up at the airport then the four of us headed to the Villa to visit Grandmom.
Unfortunately, Grandmom wasn't feeling well at all. We only stayed about 15 minutes to visit with her.
Then off to the convent, immediately digging into all the goodies Aunt Jo had put out for us. It wasn't long until the other Aunts and Uncles and cousins started joining us (including 92 year old Aunt Mary... 92! And when I asked her what she wanted to drink, she said, "A little of whatever you've got." And I said, "We have a lot, why don't you give me a suggestion?" and she said, "Oh, some wine would be nice." LOVED IT!)
Great visiting, great food. But my favorite part came while everyone was cleaning up and my three year old niece, Samantha, wanted to explore the convent. Having pretty much grown up around convents (a lot of holidays like Thanksgiving, vacationing at the beach, and even spending weeks of my summer at another Aunt's convent when I was in junior high), I knew that this was essentially a right of passage for Samantha.
I mean, convents are big. And dark. And creaky.
Very, very scary.
So she wanted to see what was up the big stairs. I took her by the hand, and - being girls - we tiptoed up the stairs to the second floor. Then tiptoed down the second floor, peaking in each room, whispering, stopping to listen, tiptoeing some more.
To... another set of stairs! Up that one, too! And there was a front and a back set of stairs, so then it was up one, down another, back up that one, and down the first!
We even found a cubby on a sort-of fourth floor, where we sat in the almost darkness and whispered, just for the sake of whispering!
She was so fascinated by all the doors, and being so brave to push them open into the darkness! It definitely was my favorite part of the day!
4 comments:
So sweet! I love the tour! I'm curious -- how many other sisters stick around the convent for Thanksgiving? Are your aunts the only ones who invite their family for the holiday or do others invite family, too?
Melissa, Hi this is Aunt Rita. Sometimes there are other Sisters there when we first arrive but they usually leave to go to their own families. See, the sisters really aren't suppose to go home until they have "dinner at home" so they have it a day early, a little bending of the rules. Imagine a nun bending the rules. But it all started because my house got too small to hold the dinner and convents have great big dinner rooms and kitchens (maybe not modern but big). Hope this helps.
That certainly helps. I'm going to invite myself one year and experience the famous Fleming, convent Thanksgiving! I've been hearing about it for so many years.
You would be more then welcomed to come. There is always room at the table. I'll send you an invitation for 2009.
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