I stopped inviting my husband's very elderly parents years ago. The first time they said they wouldn't come because they said Thanksgiving is a Gentile (not Jewish, but Christian) holiday. We all know it is an American holiday, but they don't. The next time they said they wouldn't come because they were on a diet.

I cried and cried. My husband should have called his parents and told them 'get yourselves here and be a part of your family', but he didn't.