Bits of Real-Life November

When I first started writing this -- which was mid-November, right before we visited the kids -- it was  a glorious November day, one of several. The temperature hit 65, and maybe even topped it. The sun was out and there was no real wind! It couldn't have been a better (or more unusual) day for the season. When you have a day like that, you grab it. We know what is around the corner. Today there is snow -- and so cold!

Over the River and Through the Woods

Thanksgiving blew for us it was a whirlwind! A quiet Thanksgiving day and several after-days of fun! (Cue the Music!)

It was just me and Rick for Turkey Day itself (although we opted for roasted chicken, honey/ginger carrots, potatoes, cranberries and dressing!)

I Would Like to Thank the Academy...

How many speeches do you hear at awards time that begin with "I would like to thank the Academy...," followed by a long list of people and usually ending with "and of course, my dear family..."

Well, at this season of giving thanks I thought it was time for a little list of my own. And it does NOT begin with the Academy! (But guess who it will end with!)

So this year I would like to thank....

Thankful for a Wonderful Holiday Weekend

I still love a four-day weekend now as much as I did when I was working. It's a different vibe, time to relax -- or work your tail off -- or see people you love. And mine was splendid.

Not Decking the Halls Yet

I think Rick and I would chalk up this year's Thanksgiving to being high at the list of the worst! The night before I got  message from my doc that after only 48 hours, my heart monitor had already started to indicate A-fib, which was distressing. (If anyone reading this has it, I'd love to chat with you.)  After the impacted ear wax, the lung stuff and sinus headaches that never leave, it was just too much.

 But TG morning started out so well. I made stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries; we had rolls and dessert good to go. Rick brought over the turkey breast.

But sometime during cooking my back went into -- what? Spasm? Something pinched?  Pain.

By then I could hardly move. A family phone call was a break in the action, and we watched "The Crown" for a while. But when I tried to move it took 15 minutes to get about six feet. 

 

Then the turkey got done before everything else was. We thought we might eat in shifts. But after munching on shrimp and cheese while watching more elaborate dinners at Buckingham Palace, neither one of us were hungry. And I was in too much pain to even take a picture of the table.

Eventually Rick got me put to bed and the next day I was able to get into the doc. It seems that it's a muscle spasm and for a while I am grounded, mostly on the sofa. No decorating for this kid.

But soon!

Giving Thanks

On Thursday, the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving, honoring the the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies when the Wampanoag Native Americans shared their harvest feast with the colonists. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Thanksgiving Day in November.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially set the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving in 1941.

In most years the holiday is marked with televised parades and football and a massive celebratory dinner with family and/or friends. This year's will be a little different. As Covid rages throughout the country, wise Americans are limiting their celebrations, perhaps only having household members at the table.  It's the right and smart thing to do. But it is different. And for many, a big adjustment.

As we are giving thanks for the blessings of the year, many reflect on the personal or collective issues for which they are grateful. And yet for many, the day will be touched by the grief of loss of a family member, a good friend, or even the family pet. Yes, loss is rampant in our world today, not only through death but through the loss of things we took for granted -- loss of a job or family income, the ability to travel without additional nervousness or being able to hold those little grandchildren in our arms are several of the many losses that come to mind.

Still, there is much for which I have to be grateful this year and I will share a few of those things. At the top of the list is a supportive partner in Rick who has taken great care to protect me in these challenging times. For many months and with few exceptions, he has been my only ongoing human, face-to-face contact. I do not take that for granted.

I am grateful that despite a few nagging issues that will be with me forever, I am still healthy. I guess by that I mean I don't have Covid. So far, at least and each day I pray never. We have heard the stories from friends and neighbors who have had this disease and it has touched Rick's family with two of his relatives who fortunately are still here. Yes, grateful for safety.

I can't leave out how thankful I am for a talkative cat with a big purr who needs me because she doesn't have thumbs. She's a constant companion and yes, we talk to each other.

Grateful for a home that is warm and the resources to buy food and things I might not just need but want. For a cottage where I could hide away and isolate this summer and still feel somewhat normal. And for little things like cable and a computer and telephone. Things that keep me in touch.

Then there are the friends and family. Human contact -- even if it is on Zoom or twelve feet apart in the yard. People who care. I cannot imagine my life without the wonderful friends who have been part of it -- both in "real life" and online -- and that means you!

I am grateful that the administration in our country is turning toward a more mature, responsible leadership next year and one filled with hope as we look toward repairing relationships around the world. This will not be easy and it will not be fast, but I'm confident that things will improve. I am so thankful for developments that promise a vaccine soon, and for the amazing men and women who so selflessly serve in our hospitals, doctor's offices, grocery stores and so very much more. 

I take nothing for granted. We've seen how quickly life can be taken from us, how circumstances out of our control can change a world.

Every day I am grateful simply for the fact that people I love -- and that I am still here.

Thanksgiving - Just Around the Corner

Today as I was getting my shopping list together for Rick, I asked him if we were ready to decide what we wanted for Thanksgiving this year. It's just the two of us. No big pilgrim feast this year.

We decided we could wait till next week but it started me thinking about bringing up the turkey plates, planning the dinner, albeit a small one, and just about the holiday in general.

I don't have a lot of cute turkeys or other Thanksgiving-specific decor, just a few bits. But I do have a lot of vintage postcards.

I use them in decorating. Just a touch here and there.  Here are a few ideas and some cards to share for your use.

Just right-click to save the ones you like on your computer. Then print them on card stock and tuck them into a wreath.

 Tuck one or two in your holiday centerpiece.

Or use them as place cards on your table. It doesn't matter if there are ten of you or two of you, or even if you're dining alone.

If you're bringing dinner to a friend or neighbor or some sweet treat, tuck them in as a greeting.

Use them as a "What I'm grateful for" game at your table or on Thanksgiving Day. Just write your gratitudes on the back (and don't forget to save them!)

This Thanksgiving will be hard for those of us who are apart from families or dear friends. And if not hard, different.

Some of us may have had final farewells to people we love in this past year. We may know others who have fought or are still fighting Covid or another possibly terminal disease. We must be grateful for what they brought to the table in years past.

And, if we are well, grateful that we are here. Celebrations matter. So does gratitude, which can help us through really tough times.

So, here's to celebration. Every day matters. And Thanksgiving is a wonderful day to remember the good things, even when the remembering might be  a little hard. Take care and stay well.

One Holiday Down -- More to Go!

A quick recap of Thanksgiving is due, because -- well, there was much for which to be grateful!

(Cue the music, below!)

Our Thanksgiving day was spent with friends Kate, Mike and Barb. It was quite a feast!

Kate was a wonderful hostess...

...her co-host, Zeke, was most agreeable!

And there was the obligatory tryptophan coma!

Greg arrived on Friday. It was the first time we'd seen him in months. He's back in Northern Michigan now after some months in L.A. and it was so good to catch up! Our time together included games of Sequence and seeing the wonderful film, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."

(Let me say, I think this is both a wonderful and important movie. And it is especially good to see with members of your family. The discussions after can be so valuable and meaningful. It was the perfect Thanksgiving weekend activity.)

Later that night we welcomed Rick's friends and musical partners, Byron and Josh, for dinner. Then they performed the "concert" they are preparing for a gig at a senior home soon. They were really quite good and much improved since the last time I heard them. These guys are practicing!

While they were playing, Greg helped me string cranberries to leave outside for the birds this winter.

When all was said and done, we have a bowl full of garland.

And now, we're just waiting for this guy to return!

(Probably this one, too!)

I leave you with a photo that makes me smile. Rick doing something he loves.

How's your holiday planning going?

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Grateful

Thanksgiving. It brings so many things to mind, but most of all being grateful for what we have and for those who make our lives special. And I am grateful.

I am grateful, most of all, for Rick. Rick will drive the speed limit, curse vigorously at the potholes (and in Michigan that means a lot of cursing!), bemoans football on TV non-stop, has rabbit ears for his television set (he can get all the cable he needs -- and he doesn't need much -- at my house) and has a kitchen table stacked like the normal curve. And he's always right. Just ask him!

And none of that matters. (In fact, it gives some good fodder for teasing!)

Would anyone but Rick have befriended a schizophrenic man who "picked him up" at Panera, helping him with some of the mechanics of social services, sharing birthday lunches with him, occasionally having him for dinner and serving as his local emergency contact? His friend can be very trying, but that's what makes it special.

I've never seen a man love his grandchildren more than Rick does his toddler twosome. I'm sure some of you may argue with me on this and claim you and yours love their grands more. I will disagree. Not more. As much, I certainly hope so!

And no one could be supportive of me, especially when waiting for test results or when I'm missing my mom and dad, who will listen to me cry, understand how scared I might be and never, ever, let's me feel he will be anywhere but there for me. No matter what.

I am grateful for my family. I'm an only child. My cousins are more like siblings and we spent almost every summer together from the time I was 13 until I graduated from college. Our mothers died seven months apart. The first Thanksgiving without them would have been unbearable without each other.

More than 40 years have passed since that above photo was taken. Since then, the dads have left the picture but new faces have joined in, each and every one a treasure.

I am grateful for the friends who bless our lives and who come through when we so need their support. This photo was taken a number of years ago after Rick's serious cycling accident. On that Thanksgiving morning, we decided to host dinner for friends who weren't otherwise engaged. No planning, no party favors. Just food and friendship. It is possibly my favorite Thanksgiving. It's not a great photo, but the friendship more than makes up for it.

I am equally grateful for blog friends, whose visits and comments never fail to make me smile; whose blogs continually teach and inspire me and whose support over the years has been a touchstone. You are incredibly special to me.

I am grateful to have a home I love, a cat that makes it hairy and for whatever talent I may have been fortunate to have or acquire.

I am grateful to be able to say I feel safe. Safety is so very important in this world and so many can't experience it.

And I am grateful that despite a very rough year for Rick and me physically, we continue to soldier on. You'd never know he broke his leg. The jury is out on me, but I am always the optimist and hopefully not having to deal with anything worse than a routine colonoscopy for awhile.

I am grateful for the bounty that exists in my world. I know in many ways I am one of the lucky ones and I try to give it back and pay it forward. But I will never forget that I am very fortunate indeed.

And so, during this Thanksgiving season (if you are in the U.S.), harvest time elsewhere or the start of the busy season, whether it is "your" holiday or not, I hope you'll take time to relax and enjoy for a day or two or three.

After all, we're all going to be very tired and very busy, and very soon!