Just recently, during Thanksgiving week, my daughter came home for a few days to enjoy a much-needed break from work.

She had some things in mind – to take back home with her Mimi’s homemade cranberry sauce leftovers, to spend plenty of time with the family and to go to the farm to hunt deer in hopes of filling her freezer with some fresh, organic, protein-rich, lean meat.

Many West Virginia families have traditions that run deep, and many of us base our celebrations and family gatherings around food. Aunt Sally’s mac and cheese, grandma’s oyster dressing and of course, someone always has a legendary dessert. Our family is the same in that we all have our roles during family gatherings, and as new ones come and older ones move on, they change slightly, but the structure remains the same.

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