BEAUTIFUL article, so well written and it made me cry. I lost my own mum when I was 19 and I remember the first Christmas without her (we don't have Thanksgiving in Britain) and it was hard preparing the food, esp. the turkey, because she would get up really early to get that thing in the oven. I loved your description of putting all your family heirlooms on the table. I still have a few kitchen utensils from my mother that I still use.