I am not even Kidding...Best Thanksgiving Ever



Happy Thanksgiving from my family to you and yours.

Dividing up our time for each holiday is always a challenge with having just two sets of parents (in-laws and my a-family).  It gets harder when your in-laws go through a change and now dad-in-law lives here and mom-in-law lives there.  Then there's my reunion so I have a paternal family here and a maternal family there.  How do I spend time with everyone, how do I not make it seem like I am rejecting someone when I'm really not--I'm just one person?  Well, I am thankful this year to have spent time with my a-family today on Thanksgiving, a family day for the in-laws on Saturday, and I hope to travel to see my first family at the end of December.

The Good Stuff
I loved this Thanksgiving.  After working out who I/my family could be together with and when, I still faced the daunting task of getting through the actual holiday.  Don't get me wrong: I love Thanksgiving and Christmas.  However, I struggle with the emotions involved.  Not my emotions: everyone elses.  People carry their own narratives with them as well as the narratives and memories of others.  Christmas and Thanksgiving are two such holidays where all of those memories are in the forefront of people's minds and the emotion, the joy, the memories, the happiness, the missing those who have been lost, the loss--all of that is cranked way, way up.  And I can feel it.  Sitting down to dinner during a holiday I scan the faces around me and I can see them remembering, reminiscing, mourning, and rejoicing.  It flows from their faces, exudes from their bodies, and echos in their voices.  It makes a thick cloud in the room that collects until the walls are about to burst.  It is overwhelming to be surrounded by all of these memories and emotions, especially since I carry my own memories and thoughts to ponder through, and oh-the-nostalgia.  I'm young-ish, nostalgia is new for me.  It's sometimes enough to take the breath right out of you.

When my parents let me know there was a community dinner at their church to serve those in need in the church's surrounding area, I was delighted.  A big open space for the high emotions to waft away in and not make a thick net throughout the room.  I would be serving--plenty to keep myself busy with.  I like serving people.  It was great.  My husband and kids were there my parents and grandmother were there.  Friends I grew up with were there.  It was probably the most relaxing Thanksgiving I've ever had.

The Funny Stuff
Meanwhile, I was texting on my phone......
Me:  "Happy Thanksgiving!"
Family Member I Thought I was Texting:  "Who is this?"
Me:  "Amanda."
Family Member I Thought I was Texting:  "Amanda who?"
Me:  "______'s daughter."
Family Member I Thought I was Texting:  "Who?"
Me:  "Oh, I think my family member must have cancelled her phone without telling me and the number got assigned to you?  Well, Happy Thanksgiving."
Them:  "That's OK.  Maybe we was s'posed to meet.  How old r u?"
Oh wow, a complete stranger is waxing philosophical with me and being kinda creepy via text.
Them:  "My name is Tony."
Picture me, rolling my eyes, assuming that this was a teenage boy, and trying to come up with an answer that would end this series of texts.
Me:  "I am almost 30, married, mother of two."

Never heard from "Tony" again!

Inspirational Stuff
We had lots of left over food so we packed up to-go boxes for people to take food home with them.  I carried one woman's boxes to her car.  "Thank you" she said, "I appreciate the Meals on Wheels program but these leftovers will be much tastier than those meals have been."  She added "they didn't want to come on a holiday, I am glad your church was open."  She asked me my name and told me hers.  She told me that she is 90 years old, she gave me a hug, and got into her car.

On my way back into the building a man was about to leave on his bicycle.  I thanked him for coming.  He responded that he needed to leave before it got dark.  He had been hit by a drunk driver on his bicycle almost 10 years prior.  The injuries have left him unable to work--but he can still ride his bike to get to where he wants to go.  "They told me I would never walk without crutches" he laughed.  I watched him unlock his bike and go.

Yep.  It was the best Thanksgiving ever.