Today at work, we had a Thanksgiving Dinner for the troops headed back over to Iraq. We're doing this again on Thursday, so I had to dig through a bunch of decorations in the USO storage area and try to find some type of Thanksgiving centerpieces to put on the tables. So although it's only Monday, I ate turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie cheesecake, and pulled out dried leaves, plastic pumpkins, and strings of berries. And all on the Monday before Thanksgiving.
Even with all the Thanksgiving activities (and calories) it still doesn't quite feel like Thanksgiving, and up until today, I couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Perhaps because everyone has seemed to skip Thanksgiving entirely this year? All the stores, heck, even my friends already have their Christmas trees up! Last week I had a particularly rough day and found myself listening to Christmas music in my car just to cheer myself up. That might be part of it.
But it really hit me today. And where was I when this revelation occured? WalMart, of all places.
I was rushing through the store, wrestling with the soft drinks I was purchasing for Bible Study, and I passed the "Thanksgiving" aisle. All the specialty baking products had been pulled out and set aside for easy access. I glanced at the pumpkin pie spice and I thought of my mom. And I realized that she's not here. And THAT is why it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving.
Granted, I'm not getting too down about it this year. I'll be busy working, and we'll get to see Tim's family, and best of all, I'll get to see mom and dad for 8 days over Christmas. But still, I guess it really isn't Thanksgiving when I'm not at my mom's house. I miss hearing her brainstorming in preparation for the big meal... her telling me what I can help her with... and then me watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade and snacking while SHE does the cooking.
Happy Thanksgiving
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