It is a full day getting our family of five ready for this Thanksgiving. Laundry to wash, fold, and sort; food to cook; suitcases to fill, sit on, and zip; toys to select for the ride; oodles of baby paraphernalia to bring; cameras, computers, portable DVD players, phones, power cords, and chargers to remember; plants to water and put inside; coolers to pack; car to gas up; mail arrangements to make; cars to load; doors to lock, and let’s not forget the kids. Finally, the five of us, one six foot two inches tall man, one lady, two growing boys, one baby, and three carseats are carefully arranged in the Bruorton-mobile. It’s like being crammed inside an overstuffed turkey ready for roasting. And of course, we too, will have the necessary interruptions to our roasting process because, inevitably, probably at different times, someone will need to be basted….I mean take a pee break. Let’s not even mention road blocks, detours, parking lots and other unfortunate highway incidents that are common occurrences during holiday travel.
And this is how our Thanksgiving begins. My husband and I hit the road hoping and praying for patience and a safe trip. It’s really a true miracle by the time we get where we are going. Our arrival makes being thankful easy and immediate. We are all appreciative when our roasting efforts pay off and we are able to sit at the table with a sweet smelling, juicy, golden brown turkey and not a dried out and burned up, unrecognizable, overcooked bird.
Aaaah…no matter what roof is over our heads, we are welcomed by the familiar smells of Thanksgiving favorites (mine, ours, and theirs), the warmth of family and friends, a table covered with way too much food, kids giggling with hunger, and our hearts are overflowing with our own reflections of gratefulness.
I am thankful for people, experiences, and things seen and unseen, recent and past, things obvious and not so much. I am thankful for family, for my family of five, for my family that will forever be my roots, for my extended family and my married-into family, and for loved ones who are so much a part of my Thanksgiving even though they are not here with us in body. I am thankful for friends near and far, old and new, but especially for friends that see me through my ups and downs and love me all the more for them. You are my family too. I am thankful for our health, our home, delicious food, and the hands that prepared it. I am thankful for all I have been through (good, bad, ugly, and scary) in the past year. I am thankful that I can be living, breathing proof of the man upstairs, His plan, and His never ending love for each of us. I am thankful that my journey makes me a stronger, more faithful, faith-filled person, even though there are screw ups and bang ups. I am thankful for being able to enjoy my Thanksgiving in an upright position this year, and I am even more thankful that we have one more beautiful little person at the table with us. I am thankful for our hopes of what is to come and for our growing family as my little sister gets married in a few months. I am thankful for strained relationships that are not perfect but on the mend. Most of all, I am thankful that “all I have is all I need (Simple Abundance, Sara Ban Breathnach).” Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
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