Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. To me, it’s Christmas without the stress of presents. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Christmas is the season of giving, and that is what makes it so great…and stressful! When I KNOW what someone might want because they’ve said something in passing, and I’ve (for once in my life) zoomed in on that clue and managed to somehow remember, then I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting them a gift! I love when you can surprise someone with something they will really enjoy and getting to experience the pure happiness they get by opening it. Let’s be honest…that doesn’t happen all the time. Some gifts are just given because you were supposed to give it to them…or oh Lawd, what about the times when someone gets YOU something and you forgot to get them something?! You scramble with something like, “Oh! Gosh! Thank you! Shoot- I left yours at home!” AKA I’ve got to run to the store on the way home and buy it! Some of you are laughing because you know it’s true! This is why I love Thanksgiving! In my house growing up we ate the same meal on Thanksgiving that we did on Christmas, so we get the same yummy food but without the stress of presents. Now, I’m sure that when I was a kid I liked Christmas a whole lot better because OF the presents, but now that I’ve grown older and wiser (at least I hope wiser) I find a great deal of value in a holiday that encourages you to be thankful for all that you have. It’s a little difficult to enjoy the holiday though when Christmas decorations are being put up mid November, and my poor little step-child holiday gets the backseat. God Bless, I even feel like Christmas has creeped in on Halloween to some extent. Macy’s get’s their decorations up on like October 30th or something ridiculous! Poor little Thanksgiving pumpkins get tossed aside to make room for Christmas wreaths, big red bows and lights galore. Can we just savor the beautiful fall decorations through Thanksgiving?! Can’t Christmas begin the day after Thanksgiving?! Can I get through my turkey dinner without having to see Christmas trees?
This year I had a hard time though. If you noticed, which you probably didn’t because you have a life, I was very quiet on social media this Thanksgiving. There is one reason for this…this year when I kept thinking about what I was thankful for the first thing that popped in my head was that I was thankful to be alive. Hello?! That’s depressing! Good Gawd! Thankful to be alive?! Is THAT where I am now?! I mean, sure, we should all be thankful for that, I suppose, but REALLY?! My health has been so dreadful that I’m thankful to be 6 feet above and not 6 feet under?! So, as you can see, it was a bit hard for me. I have SO much to be thankful for, and I really am thankful for all my amazing blessings, but when you start every thankful thought with “thankful to be living this year” it just took the wind out of my sails. I learned an important lesson from the Disney movie Bambi…we’re a Disney family…I was raised on Disney, and honestly I have a hard time when people tell me they don’t like Disney…I think, “Really?! You don’t like Disney?! What is wrong with you?!”…but I try to remain quiet because of something important I was raised on…”if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say nothing at all.” Thanks sweet little Thumper for reminding us of this important manner! I felt this way for Thanksgiving…I’m so thankful…but I’m so sad of my first thankful item…so I just said nothing.
I started round 9 of chemo the Monday before Thanksgiving, so I was knee deep in meds when Thursday came. I wasn’t feeling my best, and fortunately Mike’s family was in town and stepped up to the plate when it came to turkey dinner. I got to spend the entire week with Mike and the boys and enjoyed family that helped pick up, play with the kids and enjoy the time off. I’m SO thankful for my husband. God really knew what he was doing when he opened the Georgia door to him which lead his little midwestern tail right to me. I have my match; my partner in crime. He’s an amazing father, and our 2 boys just adore him! Speaking of my boys, have you met them?! They are just fantastic, and they bring us all so much joy. Between great family, great parents, great jobs, lovely home, the list can go on and on about all the great things…if we could just get this whole scary health thing/ trying not to die thing under control, then that would really be great!
So now that Thanksgiving is behind us, and I welcome the Christmas season with open arms; I hope the holiday season continues to bring us family time and togetherness. Really, that is all I need right now. I need my family and time with them!