I've spent a lot of holidays alone, some completely alone, others with other families. The price I've paid for being a little gypsy ;) It was hard at first, but got easier as I got older.
I moved back home in 2011. It was wonderful, I got to celebrate my mama and papas birthday, my sister and brothers, and mine with family. Last Thanksgiving was a truly special event, and probably one of the most memorable. My sister is the only one of us that's married, so they split Thanksgiving and Christmas up between each family. Last year it was our year for Christmas, but not Thanksgiving. So it was just my parents, my brother and I.
A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, my parents were off visiting my sister, leaving my brother and I in charge of calving. I got home from work one night late, and noticed some calves in the pole barn. I drove up to the house, and got my brother, and we went back down to fix fence. It was raining, pretty late and I'm so surprised my brother and I got along so well. What I didn't know was that he had left a pot of hot dogs boiling on the stove. He didn't go back to the house, and I wasn't living there. The next morning what he found was a disastrous mess, but thankfully the house was still standing. The end result was some serious smoke damage of everything in our parents house. My parents were outraged, my brother felt awful, but we were all So thankful that the house survived. The smell was atrocious. My mom spent the first couple nights in a motel, my dad toughed it out, but shouldn't have been breathing that stuff in. For a week, every window in the house was open, and it was bitter cold inside there. I took the bird, the cat and my mom. Finally the insurance sent in a team, and my dad moved out.
I was living in my grandparents old house, and my mom and dad were staying in my dads old room. It was so nice! My brother would come down during the day and start a fire for us all. We had family dinners every night. Problem was, I didn't have a dining room table. Or really any chairs, or anywhere to sit. But it was so special to see my papas reaction. He hadn't slept in that house in almost 40 years. A lot of memories came back. He only came in the back door, because his mom would get mad if they drudged their dirty boots through the house.
Thanksgiving rolled around. Mom brought down a card table, my cousin brought over some fold up chairs, we were set! My oven wasn't very big, so we just cooked a breast, made some stuffing, mashed potatoes and biscuits. It was a fairly sparse spread, but I didn't have anything to cook with. So we did the best we could with what we had. And it was very nice! Even though my sister wasn't able to be there, it was special. It was my dads first Thanksgiving dinner in his old house since the mid 70's. It meant so much to him, and it warmed my heart to see how happy he was. He told us stories of his childhood, him and his brother fighting, playing army under the house, milking cows and cream separating... I didn't know my grandparents very well, so spending a holiday in the home they built together meant more to me than I can express. There was a lot of laughing, a lot of whiskey and wine and a few tears. It was a day for the books!
There's only ever been one other Thanksgiving that was as special. So as I prepare to spend yet again another T-Day without my family I remember the truly happy and amazing holidays I have gotten to spend with them. And look even more forward to going home for Christmas!
So Happy Thanksgiving everyone and don't ever take your family and friends for granted, no matter how crazy they make you!!!!!
Xo Loves,
Me
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