An early Thanksgiving meal was served Tuesday night, proving that "family" can mean different things to different people.
Elizabeth Malone, a local insurance agent with a background in wellness, was speaking with retired musician Tracy Abernathy about Medicare coverage when their discussion turned more personal.
“The one thing I saw in doing Medicare,” Malone said, “was so many people had this common story of either losing a loved one or losing, kind of just the connection they had when they worked.”
That was certainly the case with Abernathy. Her partner died of cancer a couple of years ago. “I said, it’d be nice if there was somewhere to go. It’d be nice if seniors or widows and widowers had a place to meet up and have a meal together. Little did I know, I get this invitation, and she put it together,” she said.
Malone, with support from community partners, hosted a Thanksgiving meal for people who may not have had the means, or even the desire, to do it themselves. With plans in the works for more events down the road, this First Thanksgiving Dinner is only the beginning for friends, who now seem more like family.
“I had three daughters before,” Abernathy said. “And I’ve adopted her now. I’ve already told her parents we had to co-parent!”
