“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
— Melody Beattie, American self-help author
Seems like everything we do these days is like from one end to the other with no in between. It’s like Simon says: stop, then go, then stop, okay you can go again; no stop. Some establishments you enter and everyone wears a mask. Then enter another place where no one has a mask. I don’t know how to dress anymore or what’s appropriate. To solve the mask issue, I wear the elastic band around my ears, which invariably gets caught on my loop earrings. You couldn’t get the mask trapped on your earrings if you tried for a million dollars, but every time I carefully loop my ears there’s a mask hanging off my earrings and is very difficult to remove without a mirror. Thank goodness for the car’s rear view mirror. The mask part of the mask I pull down under my chinny chin chin so I can breathe, and I’m still able to quickly slide the mask up over my mouth should I encounter someone with a fully face-covered mask. I want them to feel comfortable and so that’s what I do even if I don’t know if they are comfortable or not. Better to be safe than sorry, I try to smile with my eyes. Maybe it works or maybe I just look weird.
I can’t remember the last time we had company for the holidays. No company; now company. Maybe two years of no traditional holiday celebrations and then bang here we are hosting holiday celebrations. I’m a little overwhelmed. Sam’s birthday is the first celebration, and I know that will be fine. I ordered his birthday present a month ago just to make sure I could get it and get it in the mail on time. It’s ready and waiting and he has no idea. He did ask if it was a fish fillet knife, but I told him it wasn’t. We’ll have some family members here for the birthday celebration. Having them here for the celebration will be even better than the presents. We will of course have something chocolate.
Then comes Thanksgiving right behind the birthday party. The first group will move to other family members and a new set will join us for Thanksgiving. It’s like fruit basket turn over. Probably no one will be as excited as me about this year’s Thanksgiving menu. I’m not cooking. I’m sort of an everyday cook, not a fancy holiday multiple casseroles, cakes, and turkey kind of cook. Sam suggested checking with a former schoolmate of his who started catering. Lucky for me she was offering Thanksgiving fare. This would be a win-win holiday dinner.
Sam doesn’t care for turkey so I ordered the ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, squash casserole and a dessert of “Death by Chocolate.” The caterer asked, “Shall I put these in glass dishes?” I replied, “It’s not necessary. My family will know right off the bat I didn’t cook this dinner.” For this Thanksgiving holiday, for food, our family and yours, and for the many blessings we all receive, we are thankful.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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