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My oh my how life passes us by. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday (trumps Christmas for me by a mile!) My Mother’s Mother had a big family. 9 brothers and sisters. By the time the youngest siblings were having kids the oldest were having Grand kids. That meant lots (and LOTS) of cousins, second cousins and cousins once removed! (It took about 35 years for me to understand that term, Thank you Geneaology.com )
For me Thanksgiving was the sound of football on the T.V, the smell of food in the kitchen, and family everywhere. At least it was. Our Thanksgiving tradition has changed over the years, as life would have it. Kids grow up, families branch off, and in-laws get calendared in for “every other” Thanksgiving. A table once set for 38 is now a quaint party of 5. And yet I woke up this morning at 5:45am giddy that it is Thanksgiving.
You see “tradition” is a complex word. There are many things that change throughout your life. Some good, some bad, and some indifferent. There are things I used to do with my family growing up that I have tried to re live in my adulthood. Camping, vacations, trips to the beach. Somehow when I get there I get a feeling of loss, that something is missing, and I realize it was so much more than just a family trip to the beach for me back then. It was my childhood freedom, my parents together, a feeling, that no matter how many times I take my own daughter, I will never get back.
But Thanksgiving. . . I have learned over the years each time it comes that it doesn’t matter how many place settings are on the table, or that the table is even set. Thanksgiving to me is an eye opener (a feeling I wish I could hold every day, and I try.) When I look back at our tradition it wasn’t about having a lot of people, or a lot of food, or a perfectly set table. The memories that flash in my head are of people laughing, reminiscing, and making new memories in that moment. The tradition was simply being Thankful. There was no place else to be and there was nothing more important than the people who were there. That is a tradition I have carried with me even when my table is set for 3.
I am Thankful for my where I am on this day every year. I am Thankful for the road that brought me here, for the people, friends and family, that have played a role in my life. I am Thankful for the hard times that help me appreciate the good, and for cliche sayings like that to remind me when I am not Thankful, I should be. I am thankful that while it may seem extremely difficult at times . . . there is always, always, always something to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
