Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

/ Susan Wheeler Smith / 2 Comments

Just a quick good morning and wishing you the happiest of Thanksgiving days.

Our house is quiet and still. For ten minutes more. At 9:00, the troops will be roused and the quiet will be broken with teen and twenty-somethings moaning and groaning and grumbling. And I couldn’t be more happy to hear it in my home.

I finally fell asleep around 6:00 this morning after tossing and turning all night long. It’s my own fault. I wouldn’t turn off the brain. Please know that every single one of you reading this, whether I know you or not, was thoroughly prayed over last night.

This morning, My Man and I did a small part in taking back our community. We refused to hit the Starbucks for our usual morning-off brews and drinks. With all five us home, that was quiet the chunk of change we saved and, hopefully, served as a message to Starbucks that we aren’t happy with them being open on Thanksgiving Day. I also noticed that I am short on half and half and whipping cream. Oh well. We suffer through with milk in our mashed potatoes instead of half and half and will have to ration out the homemade whipped cream. Can you hear the hint of sarcasm in my tone? I feel ridiculous even typing that knowing how over-the-top blessed and fortunate we are. And I am worried about not having enough half and half? I am so very thankful for all that we have; our family, our freedoms, the problem of too much stuff. In 2014 I am going to be looking for ways to bless others as I have been blessed. Won’t you join me?

I totally blame my friend, Fran for this poking in the eye. I also totally thank her.

Love you guys. Happy Thanksgiving!

Some thoughts on this Thanksgiving Eve.

/ Susan Wheeler Smith / 4 Comments

I stuck around in bed for an extra hour and a half after I woke up this morning. Snug as a bug, thinking about past Holiday Season celebrations. By the way, I am totally cool with referring to the time frame between Halloween and the first week of January as The Holidays or The Holiday Season. But come December 24 and 25, it is Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas. Just as we say, Happy New Year on December 31 and January 1; and, just as we say Happy Hanukkah beginning at sundown, November 27 through December 5.

Back to past celebrations. Twenty-one years ago we were gathered around my mom and dad’s table with an extremely pregnant sister of mine. Her two girls were born on December 7 of that year. That was such a fun Thanksgiving. Andy B’s, The Big Boy and My Girl were littles. The Wild Boy not even a thought yet. Trust me on that one.

There was the year that Santa came to visit and Andy B’s and the Big Boy got to sit on his lap. A few years later, Santa was caught on camera taking a bite of a cookie in Nana’s kitchen. Surprisingly enough, it was My Girl who noticed a definite resemblance between Santa and Grandpa.

Thinking about past Holiday celebrations eventually brings me around to those we are missing. Andy, Beth, Flo, grandparents, cousins. There are times when I choose to focus on the loss. There are times when I choose to focus on the Good Things. Yes, there are many. Many. Today, I chose to allow myself a time to mourn and grieve. Keeping it all in doesn’t work for me. Then I picked myself up and got moving. It’s not that I am still not thinking about those we’ve lost, because I can’t stop thinking about them today. But I’m purposely focusing on good memories of them. Especially those memories that surround Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I’m smiling as I work.

Love you guys. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!