Thanks.
What exactly is it and why do we give it?
Its definition is “to express gratitude.” Yep. That’s what I’m feeling. Gratitude.
I feel that Thanksgiving gets overlooked. Christmas seems to start now somewhere between Halloween and before the candy gets digested from trick or treating.
Along with the carts overflowing with leftover candy and costumes/fake blood, aisle after aisle of Christmas décor starts appearing. I’m not sure what store I was in, but I only know I was overwhelmingly attacked with Christmas music waaayyyy before it was time.
This coming from the gal who starts listening to Mariah Carey holiday tunes in September. Somehow, “All I want for Christmas is you” seems legal, though – even in September. Who can’t help but belt it out?
Did you know that Thanksgiving is the busiest flying season? That factoid never ceases to amaze me.
Unexpectedly, I’m giving thanks as my baby boards a plane this morning to fly from the Sunshine State to the Buckeye State. Her coming home was a complete surprise. She was planning her Thanksgiving there and we were doing the same here. Though she hadn’t been home for Thanksgiving for three years, we knew that Christmas wasn’t that far away. Fate sometimes steps in and takes the decision away from you. As I write this, she’s sitting on the runway in West Palm Beach waiting to take off.
I’m expressing gratitude for that.
I have memories of wax turkeys. Tradition was always so important to me. If anything, anything at all was not where it should be I would get so upset. Those wax turkeys mom kept in the old cupboard were dug out, usually by me, every Thanksgiving. I think there were some ceramic pilgrims too. Maybe I need to give mom a call and see if she’s bringing them to the table at my sister’s house. Even though we no longer can have it at the old house in Berlin, we can still bring the wax turkeys.
My Selena, who I’m giving gratitude for this morning, is having a special night tonight. My thanks stems from her torn ACL, which has healed like a miracle. We went out to the Hiland track Saturday afternoon and she ran. She ran! Two whole laps she put under her belt. This after sitting out her entire junior soccer season, then pushing herself hard at rehab. Thanks Sheila Mullet.
She is dolling up this evening for a date with her boyfriend. They are celebrating one year of dating and also his 17th birthday. I’m giving thanks for her wonderfully insightful ways and wisdom beyond her years.
I can’t wait until Thursday. Steaming turkey, mounds of potatoes, dressing fried only my sister Jen’s way. Traditions run deep, but also the ability to change and shift with the times comes naturally to us too. I’ve changed certain things about myself lately that I never thought possible. I’ve surprised myself.
I’m giving thanks for my son Hunter, who was diagnosed with mono several weeks ago, but was only down for a few days. He’s skinny, but looks as if he was never sick. I’m sure the prospect of no indoor soccer because of the mono is enough to make him eat and get well again. When January rolls around, he’ll be raring to get out on the field. That is, if he can tear himself away from Modern Warfare 3 long enough to play. We’ll see.
Which leads me to my last expression of gratitude. Well, make that several wrapped up into one.
I give thanks that George puts up with me and my attitude. He probably should’ve turned me out long ago with my sassy ways. Anyone who says fighting is bad for a marriage should probably start fighting. There’s nothing like hashing it out, and coming back again to the one you know you’ll never leave.
I give thanks for my husband who works hard so we can come home to a house that’s warm and full of food. I also give thanks for wax turkeys and Mariah Carey holiday music. I couldn’t have one without the others.