The Ranch

For the past 15 years, every Thanksgiving we go to our family friend's ranch.  We go with a bunch of family friends, and over the years we have evolved into "the ranch crew."  Whenever someone say's the ranch crew, we all know who is being talked about.  It is a very close group of adults with kids ranging in college, out of college, juniors, sophomores and babies.  The group is just one huge extended family.  We are there for each other through thick and thin and that is how its been and how it will always be.  The crew is always just a phone call away no matter what.  All the families have been involved in each child's life and he/she grows up, they have supported one another through the milestones, including bar and bat mitzvah's, and who knows what else.  Every year at the ranch, we leave early on Friday morning so we get there around 11ish or earlier.  From then on the kids run around and don't show back up to the dining room until dinner.  It is a weekend full of hikes, ping pong games, pool games, backgamon, lounging on the porch, telling stories, reading books, laughing, cooking, eating, and late night song sessions.  This year was different.  Earlier in the year we were told that the ranch had to be leased and that this might be the last Thanksgiving we get to spend out there.  It went back and forth on if we could go out for Thanksgiving and unfortunately it was a no.  When we found out it was a mix of feelings.  As a joke we all said it should have been put to a group vote.  We were sad and confused.  It was the end of a tradition that greatly influenced all of our lives.  The family that owns the ranch is always there the Thursday of Thanksgiving and everyone else meets them there on Friday.  They did some research and found a new place, but this year everyone else just stayed home.  We all spent the afternoon at Ellen's, and it was just different, but fun.  We all love spending time together but we just wanted to be at the ranch.  Hopefully, somehow the ranch will one day be ours again and we can resume the tradition of the ranch.  It was a nice run we had there and it will always carry some of the best memories of our lives. Atleast we are all still one big group, some things just can't be changed.