The Ultimate Compliment

I got a call the other day from my sister-in-law Lila. She was inviting our family to have Thanksgiving dinner at her house. I was very excited. I love Thanksgiving and the more family the better. I asked what I could bring. She had not really planned the menu yet, but she knew she wanted me to make the GRAVY. I learned how to make gravy from my father. He was an expert. He made the gravy for every roast and every turkey and delicious hamburger gravy. Holidays were especially delicious and we all couldn't wait to have our potatoes with 'dad's gravy'. My father died of cancer on January 2, 1996. We celebrated our last Thanksgiving together as a family in Idaho all together with my dad. He made the gravy--he was very weak and thin, and without saying it we all knew this would be the LAST gravy made by dad. Just as he finished, and was bringing the gravy to the table, it slipped out of his hands and spilled. He was so sad, he felt defeated. WE all acted like it was no big deal and we ate the delicious meal with a few drops of the best gravy we had ever had. My gravy does not taste like my dad's, but I'm trying and EVERY TIME I make it I think of my father. It is a good memory. I love you dad and this year I will again think of you at Thanksgiving time as I'm making YOUR gravy.