A Quiet Thanksgiving
Sat., November 25, 09:36 AM
We had a quiet Thanksgiving this year. I think that, as I remember things for which I am thankful, one of those is that I have reasonable options. Between still being tired from our trip to Boston and the fact that Thanksgiving is early this year, I was more aware than ever that I just don't have the energy to produce the kind of celebration I had done in the past.
I'm sure that I might have had invitations to others' feasts, but in such cases the choice is different. Either I drag Husband out -- even more of an ordeal when Son is not around to help -- or else I go somewhere by myself, which really isn't fair to him. When I went out early Thursday morning, I thought "greater love has no wife than to go out in the driving rain to make sure her husband has what he will enjoy." And I thanked heaven that I did not have to move Husband himself through the weather.
The hardest thing I did was to make my popular cranberry chutney. Otherwise, I took the easy way out. I bought some sliced turkey and canned gravy. I made two casseroles -- a small dish of stuffing and a spinach dish. These are remarkable preparations, in that both Husband and U.D. will eat them. It tasted like Thanksgiving. Since I didn't bother with a pie, I bought Husband an apple turnover. (U.D. and I don't need pastry -- really and truly.)
I spent much of the day just feeling grateful for the obvious things, like a roof over my head and more or less good health, and some less obvious as well. Son and Daughter-in-Law love each other and had a beautiful wedding. I have the love and support of family and friends. I remain grateful for having been born in the United States, where I might grow up according to my own inclinations; I don't know of any other place where that would have been allowed.
There are compensations for so many inconveniences, preventing them from being real problems. Eyesight going? There are large-print books. There is also the upgrade of Internet Explorer, which allows me enlargement of all text with a click of the mouse. As far as that goes, I have enjoyed computers ever since I learned to use them, and the internet opens the world to me, even as other difficulties would tend to close me in.
There is nothing like a letter from my friend Gloria -- complete with complaints and shopping list -- to remind me that I'm blessed. "I'm not complaining..." Of course she is. The complaints are not valid because she has been offered alternatives -- not just from me -- but she flatly refuses them all. How lucky we are, those of us who have learned to accept change as well as to cause it. And how fortunate we are to have a network of friends to remind us.
