Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday rushing and running are over but it seems everywhere people just dash away, dash away, dash to the mall. Christmas and New Year are coming fast and everyone seems to be talking about decorating the house, getting the tree, mailing presents and gift cards, adorable advent calendars and driving to go see the best light displays. All of which is fine, but please, grab a cup of coffee or your eggnog, sit back and relax. Before we all rush head long into tomorrow's plans, I want to ask, how was your Thanksgiving? Did you gobble till you wobbled or drive white knuckled through a major snow storm to get back home?
Our family had a pretty radical last minute change of plans and I had to throw dinner together on the day, however like a lot of events in our lives, it turned out to be a gift I didn't expect but now really appreciate. Normally, around this time of year we stuff and truss our 2001 CR-V with pillows, blankets, luggage, Christmas gifts and emergency toilet paper and drive the 6-8 hours to Denver to visit our family and friends for the holiday. This year did not go as planned. I'd done all the laundry we'd need and packed all our bags. I had gas in the tank, a fresh oil change and even packed bottled waters and allergy safe snacks. We had planned to meet my husbands best friend, his wife and our God son for Asian fusion downtown on the 16th street mall (we never get out to eat) but we didn't make it past our driveway. My husband got sick.
The funny thing is, we would have driven hours to rush to meet our friends for dinner, then it turns out the home we were going to be visiting for the official turkey feast the next night ended up having 10 people, 4 dogs and a contentious football game playing on the TV (as I later found out from family who attended). We would have had one day spent trying to catch up with everyone while they shopped the Black Friday bargains, then it would be back on the road for 6-8 more hours and a marathon of getting unpacked, washed and ready for Monday morning. I can only imagine how all the noise, food smells, pets and excitement would have been for my son. People don't really understand sensory issues until they live with someone who deals with them day in and day out, and even then sometimes we get caught up in all the other things going on in our lives and you don't see when you are setting yourself up for exhaustion and failure.
Because we stayed home, we picked up a few of the items we wanted for dinner at the store. It was a little busier than usual but not bad. Since I didn't have time to thaw a bird we got pre-cooked ham steaks, rolls and cranberry sauce, Campbell's green bean casserole, sweet potato, homemade mash and a frozen pumpkin pie. I didn't try to change anything or impress anyone. My son and his Nana played quietly at the table with his little people while everything cooked. That night our little family sat down around our kitchen table with a simple dinner and I felt truly thankful and grateful. Grateful for the blessings of food, warmth, and family. Thankful that things had turned out differently than we planned. I hope I can remember that feeling through the coming Christmas season and I hope we can share it together, as a gift to one another.
