The After-Thanksgiving [E+C Blog] Special

When you grow up in a different time zone than your cousins and grandparents, attend a college that's a 21-hour drive from your home town, watch your sisters settle down in three separate states, marry someone from a state that makes hot dishes instead of casseroles requires a plane ticket home, and spend more time interacting via technology than you do face-to-face, you learn that distance does not always dampen a relationship.

In fact, living with family spread across the country has its advantages. Most recently, I've discovered that it provides us unique opportunities to gather together in unusual combinations of "mico-families." Just this last weekend I had lunch at the airport with my grandma from South Dakota, my Minnesota-based aunt, and my uncle from South Dakota and his daughter - but not her siblings. We were all missing people from our immediate family unit, and I'm sure the thought crossed all of our minds that we'll likely never be together with that specific group of people again. But it was fun, and I'm grateful for long layovers and that my family takes advantage of these little opportunities to stay connected.

This Thanksgiving we went down to the farm for a laid-back gathering with the Pierson clan. I brought orange-glazed sweet potatoes and a simple green bean dish (non-casserole style). And then we got to visit the cows.

Sometimes simple is best.

And you can't beat sharing Tday with a barn full of hungry calves. (Watch my Instagram video here)

Just for fun, here's a little video I posted a few years ago about the time my family drove through the night from New Jersey to celebrate Tday morning with my oldest sister who was away at college ... in Minnesota. Twenty-one hours in the car makes for a pretty loopy morning. This video is awesome in so many ways. All the little things: the fact that we parked far away on purpose so our plan wasn't found out (not really necessary), that we crept through strangers' backyards and felt the need to whisper, that dad forgot the keys in the car in all the excitement (and loopiness), that we actually squatted in the woods and dad's subsequent comment no one seemed to hear, Karrin's hand gestures while squatting in the woods, and of course the final surprise ... priceless. Unfortunately this was 12 years ago so the video quality isn't great. You may need to squint. If you don't feel like watching the whole thing, skip to the end since that's the best part!

Thanksgiving Surprise from Carolyn Pierson on Vimeo.