Odom Thanksgiving gathering 2015 in Jasper, AL…

Our Odom Family Thanksgiving celebration is always the Sunday (or in this case, Saturday) before Thanksgiving.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the highlight for the cousins is taking the annual “swing” picture.  This is a swing that was in my  late mother-in-law’s backyard for so many years.  It’s now in my brother-in-law’s yard and the cousins look forward to it without fail every year.

This year, I decided on something a little different.  With all the loss we have experienced as a family over the past few years, I wanted to capture everyone who attended our gathering in a group photo.  I told one of the cousins that we talk about doing this every year and yet we don’t…   I remember telling my mother-in-law that I was going to bring my camera to the Odom Christmas gathering to take family photos the year she passed away, right before Christmas.  I was so saddened because she was so looking forward to this and then she wasn’t there to be a part of it.  But the best way to honor something like this is to just do it.

I made sure to have my tripod on hand this year.  After everyone had indulged in all the food we had for our annual celebration, we gathered everyone outside at the swing.  We did this before anyone could leave…

It didn’t take long either.  Usually when you try to gather this many people, it’s like herding cats!  But in this case, everyone got together quickly and waited patiently for me to set the timer on my camera and get the photo taken.  We took a few photos and I think the one in this post is the best one.  I love that everyone that attended, whether they were family or not, was in this picture.  Because in reality, everyone who was there was family.

Odom Cousin Swing Picture 2015.