Thanksgiving 2010 with the Andersen Clan!
Thanksgiving 2010 with the Andersen Clan!
This year, Tom and I were honored to have the venerable Lama Karma Namgyel of Bhutan and his wonderful new wife, Wangdi, at our Thanksgiving table, along with our usual gang of beloved family and friends. That’s Lance Deal, upper left, our Olympian hammerthrow buddy and master turkey carver from the “Church of Greg” chapter in RAH. Lance once dreamed that he left his body and flew across the world over a certain mountain range. Years later while looking at a map he realized they were the Himalayas. So we sat him next to Lama Karma who took one look at him and said: “We had a past-life together in Bhutan,” something we’ve never heard him say outright before. Now that Lance has met his Buddhist brother, we hope he’ll finally go to Bhutan with us. Our tradition is to go around the table before serving dessert and let each person share what he or she is grateful for this year. When it was Lama Karma’s turn he offered a beautiful blessing about the need for compassion and thanksgiving every day, then he said that Wangdi had asked him to thank our turkey for giving its life for our supper, and to have all of us pray for the turkey to have a more auspicious life next time. Amen to that! That’s our dashing son/stepson Eli Andersen standing with Wangdi and his cousin Isabel Hart-Andersen. Soon after that shot was taken, Isabel fell in love with Martin Jones’s colorful jacket and asked Eli to pose in it for her fashion website http://iflyastarship.blogspot.com/ (Eli, didn’t we see you wearing this in the Sundance Catalogue??) The next morning we found Tom’s dad Hank, from “The Christmas Soldier” chapter of RAH, in communion with Annie-the-Kitty-Who-Sees-Spirits, clearly asking him: “So what the heck is Thanksgiving, anyway?” May Annie and our turkey come back next time around in what Lama Karma calls “a precious human body,” so they, too, can both experience the joy of an American Thanksgiving. From our home to yours, a platterful of everyday gratitude for all of our precious gifts.  -Jessica & Tom