Thanksgiving 2019 – Overview

The holidays have morphed. Gone are the days of the joy of gathering everyone in our home, creating space for all of us to be together (not without its social laden anxiety), including my first husband, with the smells of a feast, while dad teased me that the main course should be cooked inside (rather than on the BBQ) because the smells just weren’t quite complete, the girls hiding the cranberry’s from me, some folk songs around empty dessert plates, a couple too many empty wine bottles, admittedly, eating for sport by the end of the evening, and heaps of good will for each other.

I am so thankful that my soon-to-be son-in-law has picked up this torch where I had to lay it down. After mom went into care in early 2017, we had our spring birthday celebration a couple of short months later at our house. She was still violently seeking a way to get back to the Island, and I was scared of a 1000 things that would trigger her in our house. Some of those things are still put away, over 2.5-years later. Mom has not been back to our house since. And today there’s no way she could navigate the stairs. Again, my thanks to my STB SIL, his warm and generous heart, and his hospitality. As we all said what we were thankful for around the table last night, I talked about the inclusivity of our every growing and morphing family. I know someday I’ll be able to host a holiday again, just not right now.