We had a great Thanksgiving, just the way I love the holiday: full of cooking and good food. There were other elements, too, like family members who were happy to be together. This one feels luckier to me, because I know it's not always this way for many people, and it can be much harder to make the family piece come together.
My spouse and I got up early to head to his dad and stepmom's house. We had an apple pie to create and bake, before the cooking of the 20 pound turkey. My spouse peeled and sliced the apples, and later in the morning, I took over as assistant to the main course cooking. We got the turkey ready and in the oven. We created casseroles and pans of dressing. I made a gravy out of drippings.
Eventually, others came, and we got ready for the feast. First, we went around the circle to tell what we're grateful for, and the lists were not surprising: friends, family, good fortune, moving 1000 miles away to escape hurricanes and surviving the one that found us in the North Carolina mountains (O.K., that last one was surprising). And then, the real surprise: a marriage proposal! Our only niece said yes to her significant other who got down on one knee after taking a ring box out of his pocket.
We settled in to enjoy good food and good wishes and even more gratitude. The clean up was surprisingly easy, and there will be leftovers later today, after pie for breakfast.
It has been an autumn of disruptions, in one way, an autumn of wreckage and ruin. But there is beauty in this brokenness. It has been good to have a chance to celebrate this holiday with a different set of family members. It has been good to remember that if we're lucky, wreckage can prompt resilience.
Having said that, I'm ready for a season that doesn't fall apart, a season that doesn't require a constant shifting of my attitude.
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