Wednesday, November 25, 2009

To Be Thankful......


I've been pondering a post for Thanksgiving for a couple of days now....reminiscing in my mind about past celebrations and looking forward to the current one. Thanksgiving has always been a special celebration in my family, there used to be a time when we sat almost 50 people, at one table for the meal. As our lives have changed, family units within the village have evolved, people have moved on, marriages have dissolved, loved ones have passed and the fabric of our individual lives has changed texture, I find myself looking back and forward simultaneously and longing for the past, yet excited about the future.

The celebration I will share tomorrow will be quite small...honestly, I am saddened by this because it feels as if my family unit has isolated itself from the larger part of the family we used to share with. In truth, our family has sort of disintegrated, for many reasons I won't parade here, but reasons I find sad. I enjoy the company of my small unit, however, miss the revelrie and rambunctious, rowdy commotion our larger family used to imbibe in....I'm a party girl and I miss the party.

Oddly, even as I am saddened, I find myself grateful for a quiet day with my family. We are going to review and pick out prints from our family portrait sitting, watch movies and eat, eat, eat....and, later, friends will stop by for dessert....dear friends. So, it will be a complete celebration, just a different version than the ones I can see when I look back.

One of my favorite parts of those old bashes we used to have was sharing what we were thankful for. My Mom, Sister and I used to draw and cut out construction paper turkeys and have everyone write on them what they were thankful for and then we would tape them to a big piece of butcher paper so everyone could read them. We'd save the big THANKFUL poster for the next year and do it all over again the following year. The little kids were the best....they always had really good things on their thankful construction paper turkey....I wish I could remember some of them now....

So, in honor of those days, here is my construction paper turkey:

I am thankful that my nephew arrived in the United States from Iraq this morning

I am thankful that I am alive, healthy and almost whole

I am thankful that my dad is healthy and content

I am thankful that my mom is doing the best she can every day

I am thankful that my sister's CAT scan showed an 80% reduction in the cancerous spots on her bones this past week

I am thankful that I have renewed the relationship with my sister and found that we enjoy each other's company emensly

I am thankful for my friends, without whom I would have gone off the deep end without

I am thankful for finding the bravery it took to step out of my old life and find a new life

I am thankful for rain storms, sunshine, fall color, new lawn and hummingbird feeders

I am thankful for Christmas lights on the porch.....white and blue

I am thankful for books, music and art

I am thankful for writing because it is the new praying

And, I am thankful for the friendships I've found in a place I never expected to....

Cheers to you.....cheers to yours and have a blessed celebration, however you choose to make it!

(The above cake: Butterscotch Pumpkin ) Delicious and super easy to make

Peace

5 comments:

Ileana said...

That butterscotch pumpkin cake looks delicious! I will jot down the recipe and make it over the weekend, thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Brian Miller said...

happy thanksgiving! you have quite the list there os things to be thankful for...remember them each day. and thank you for your words and comments, each day.

rxBambi said...

I'm thankful for blog camp so we got to meet IRL. Happy Thanksgiving!

McGillicutty said...

Gosh that cake looks awesome.. like Bambs I'm glad we got to meet and have fun at blog camp.. it's something I'll always be thankful for!!! hugs.

Pat said...

What a beautiful post - hope you had a wonderful holiday.

That cake looks so delicious. I will have to make it.

My holiday was a lot of fun - gathered with about 21 people here at the park in AZ. Not family, but we had a good time.