11 - Cecylia B: The smell of pumpkin pie and nostalgia

I love the fall and I think it's only natural since I was born on the first day of fall. Thanksgiving would have to be my favorite time of the year. All the halloween decorations are on sale and the stores smell of sweet pine cones to decorate your dining table with. It just gives me a sense of nostalgia for the past years. Every year for thanksgiving my grandma invites everyone over to have a big feast. We make tamales, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, egg salad, ham and the list goes on. The house is full of laughter and the savory smells of the kitchen. While my grandma prepares tamales, I help my younger cousins make cookies since everyone loves my cookies and asks for them when they come over. Then it's time to eat, everyone lines up to get a plate even though they are probably full from the copious amounts of audurbs my aunt prepares. We always have some movie playing in the background while we're all eating even though we never watch it. We laugh and gossip while we eat and often get seconds. Then dessert, my favorite time of the night, I serve my cookies I made earlier to everyone and then I get some pumpkin pie for myself and eat till my heart's content. After we’re all stuffed we play games, either poker or dominos it doesn't matter we get competitive no matter what game it is. All the adults are drunk by the end of it and go outside to get fresh air while the kids get ready for bed. The party finally dies down till you can only hear a few murmurs here and there. Sometimes we might get thirds who knows. Everyone ends up staying the night and for some reason likes to get up early the next morning. I always end up being the last to get up at like 10 or 11. Everyone greets me with a “morning sleeping beauty” or “morning lazy bones” but I don’t mind, all I care about is the flautas my grandma’s making with the leftover ham. Swear the sweet smell of them wakes me up in the morning and that's when I know it's time to go downstairs. Everyones drinking mimosas with tired faces while talking amongst each other. It's a nice feeling and it makes me feel at home. Of course I have to always eat pumpkin pie after breakfast, it's my little tradition.