For many years on Thanksgiving, my wife and I had our families over for a festive dinner. This was no small dinner and included my wife's brother, my two sisters and their spouses, our twin daughters and their spouses and many children. We all had a great time, catching up on the news of what happened to each other in the time that went by, viewing how the children had grown, and hearing how they were doing in school and elsewhere. As time marched on we were all growing older and eventually my wife and I reached the point where the labor involved was too much for us. Thankfully, our two daughters volunteered to take over hosting Thanksgiving dinner, each one taking alternate years and this worked out fine for many happy years.

Three years ago it was my daughter Barbara's turn to host Thanksgiving. When Barbara, who lived in a second floor, walk-up apartment, phoned my sister Sylvia to invite her for the holiday dinner, Sylvia had to decline. She had recently developed melanoma and the chemotherapy she was receiving made her too weak to climb the stairs. Barbara was very sorry to hear this since she loved her aunt who had been very generous to her and her sister Sharon as they were growing up. She called her sister to tell her the news and while they were talking Sharon was inspired with a solution - they would each make half of all the fixings of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and cart it down to aunt Sylvia's house, so the whole family could be together once more.

Thanksgiving at Sylvia's was something I'll never forget and the joy this gave to my sister was plain to see. It was particularly meaningful since my sister succumbed to the melanoma shortly before the following Thanksgiving. I know how much my daughters' act of kindness meant to Sylvia and it will likewise always serve as a memory of love for me too.