our last Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was the last holiday spent with our sweet boy. Never could we imagine we would lose him two days later.

We began our holiday visits the weekend before, going to my Grandma Coons' house. Austin called her "Nanny" and always enjoyed visiting there. He did request on our drive over that he not sit at the kids table this year, which I'm glad I allowed now. He enjoyed sitting with the adults and having real conversations.

I remember listening to him interact with the kids while we were setting the table and thinking how much he'd grown and matured. He was correcting something the had done but in a nice way. In the past, it would have started a fight but they listened to him. Austin also enjoyed time with his great-Aunt Becky, who shared of love of sports and baseball cards with him.

We spent most of the day there, sneaking out that evening for a holiday movie with just the four of us that evening. It was a wonderful family day.

Thanksgiving day was spent between Austin's two Mamaw's. He loved visiting both, for different reasons. Austin has always been close to June because he spent so much time with her as a toddler. For a couple years, we lived very close to June and she babysat him daily. With my mom, Austin was her first grandbaby and so he was special to her for that. She also babysat Austin and watched him after school for several years, until we moved.

He loved visiting his Mamaw June and spending time with his cousins. From an early age he loved staying the night with Bub, Tamara, and Andrew. They all shared a love of wrestling and video games and always had a great time together. Austin also loved his Mamaw June's cooking. He loved her fried chicken, ham and dumplings the most.

Austin loved spending time at Mamaw B's for many reasons. Most of all he loved spending time with her but he also enjoyed the farm. He loved the animals, riding four wheelers, and exploring the woods, just as I did growing up there. He loved spending the day there playing board games, especially Rook. He loved family breakfasts that we would have, complete with country ham, bacon and biscuits and gravy. Anything Mamaw B or Papaw Carl made was wonderful and my cooking never compared! He especially loved Papaw's vegetable soup and grill bags, Mamaw's baked steak and mashed potatoes and dumplings too.

I remember last Thanksgiving as being a wonderful day of food and family. Austin enjoyed all the usuals - turkey, dressing, dumplings, pumpkin pie but what I remember most is his smile and happiness in spending time with family. One of my last memories of the day is of him holding my sister's babies. He loved them both so much and filled his phone with pictures of them and of him holding them.

We ended the night at home, just the four of us, watching holiday movies and making plans for the upcoming season. It was a perfect holiday full of wonderful memories.