Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving with all the nostalgia

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ Leave a comment

 tgiving turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fabulous friends!

I hope you are all somewhere warm and happy with your loved ones, or at least those you can tolerate some!

If you are working on this day of thanks, I thank you. I hope you will get to enjoy with others at some point and time this thankful holiday.

I can’t help but think back to the Thanksgivings when I was younger.

My mom would be shopping for food, planning all week the previous week as well and would begin the cooking at least the day before.

Depending on who was hosting the family Thanksgiving, it could get a bit crazy but we were all happy to be spending time with relatives we got to only see on the Big 3 Holidays, which were back then, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We celebrated Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day as well but those seemed more laid back somehow and the Big 3 were always a labor of love with all of the family and friends attending.

If it was at our house my dad would always be working in the yard and/or moving things where mom needed to ready the house for all of the family who showed up.

The numbers varied but I don’t think it was ever less than 18! If everyone was in town and extended family showed up, plus random friends passing through or without plans, then we could get past 30 people for Thanksgiving! It made for a big circle through the house when it came time for the blessing!

give thanks grateful heart love

My brother and I had tasks delegated to us of course but it seems like we always complied and were eager to help. It may have been we knew it was getting closer to Christmas and Santa was always watching! I do know that though we thoroughly enjoyed seeing other family and friends, we had signals and plans for every situation that may arise! We did love watching the company come through the doors, but for some of our relatives and friends we didn’t see as often, they were the ones known to pinch cheeks, rub out heads and talk to us as if we were toddlers. So from the ages of about 5, lil bro, and 8, myself, we formed a bond that has lasted a lifetime for surviving large family gatherings! We did a lot of sibling bonding during the family gatherings. As we grew older we talked in code and would make up scenarios and talk them out, laughing hysterically at each other. Only he knows what it’s like from my perspective and only I know his. It makes me more thankful for him. I miss him more on the big 3 holidays if we aren’t able to be together.

Of course, we don’t celebrate the holidays like we once did.

We no longer have the larger family celebrations as so many are no longer with us. Others move on or move away.

I miss the scent of the house with all of the foods and people spreading out everywhere. I miss the laughter and joy, the tears too that were shed as we remembered those who had passed. Yet still giving thanks that we were blessed to have them in our lives and how they impacted us.

There are so many things I miss.

I am also so very thankful that I have the memories of those very things that I miss.

thankful people

Those parts of me that may be time long gone, but definitely not time forgotten. For you see, they make up the very fabric of who I am and how I see life. Though some perspectives have changed, I can see where others have not drifted from their origins. The parts that remember the smells, the sounds, the emotions and the underlying love and comfort that comes from those nostalgic memories. The ones I will never forget because they are imprinted on my soul.

I love making new memories and foraging new traditions. I love that I will take some of the old and blend with the new. Never forgetting those who taught me the true meaning of Thanksgiving and those still in my life, as well as those who are no longer here. I love sharing my journey with the people in my life now. I love how wherever I have lived I always find a way to share it with others and them share with me. I love that Thanksgiving is a day where you can just be thankful, no matter if it’s old or new traditions. Or maybe it’s a tradition in the making.

I hope you all have a wonderfully fabulous Thanksgiving!

Always Keep Hope Alive!

peanuts tgiving

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Delicate balance of fall and winter

~ gracelessnessover40 ~ 2 Comments

I love the fall and I love the changing of the seasons, the leaves as they fall in mass yet still there are beautiful colors of the trees. The thunderstorms and cooler temperatures.

I do not like the migraines, aching body and the sometimes dark places I can go in my mind when it’s rainy and icky out, I feel overwhelmed and it’s cold.

Yes, those statements could seem a bit contradictory but yet there aren’t. To me it’s a delicate balance. I love Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays but not always the chaos that comes with it. Some of the over the top, and not a la Grizwald style as they are hands down coolest ever when it comes to Christmas decorating, but it’s some traditions and people get to me though.

I Love Halloween. I love to decorate, wear costumes, watch scary movies and do the whole gauntlet from fall festivals and pumpkin patches to haunted houses.

The following month we have Thanksgiving and the month after Christmas. Yes, I am pretty sure everyone knows that but when you look at it in a broader picture it makes more sense why I, and many others, often become crabby, distant or just weird during what is one of our favorite seasons.

You go from fun and dress up, to Thanksgiving with Christmas falling less than a month later.

Thanksgiving, for many, means travel, cooking and volunteering. All fun under most circumstances, however it can be stressful if you are spending a portion with some you aren’t so fond of, don’t know well, or you are missing someone you once spent holidays with. The same can be said of Christmas.

Plus, it is now a fact that Christmas and Thanksgiving supplies can be purchased and are displayed at many stores in October and in some places, as early as August. I would not be lying if I said that I didn’t want to punch someone in the throat when I went into a local store and Christmas carols were playing and the Christmas section was larger than the Halloween section…it was the very beginning of October! Here in Alabama it was still warm and not even close to time, in my graceless mind, to be displaying Christmas items, especially when they took away things for the fun holiday that was still over 3 weeks away!

People post on social media the countdown to Christmas and have since last Christmas. I love Christmas too and yes, after Christmas sometimes get things for the following year when the sales happen, however I am not a Christmas tree up all year kind of gal. I have been known to keep up festive lights and just call them “holiday fairy” lights throughout a year. That all depends on where you are living and how well it works and if it looks good or just plain odd!

I remember when I was younger and you shopped for Christmas presents the day after Thanksgiving. The real Black Friday. Now you have stores open on Thanksgiving night and the week of online specials. I noted that those run for about 3 weeks! The Only places that were opened and you could go to on Thanksgiving and Christmas night were are few gas stations and the theater. I worked at the theater in my teens and we could get time and a half if we worked on a holidays. There were so many families that came to the movies as a family for on those two days more than any other day of the year. This was before cell phones and having to schedule in time with the family. It was something you just did.

I am all about bargain shopping but this is too much! People need at least 2 days a year to celebrate with friends and family. A holiday that along with all government offices are closed, businesses are closed so that people can truly get a day off. I understand hospitals, care facilities and the like will of course have people working. We take care of each other. But it’s time to enjoy and reflect in my opinion.

I can understand why people can go into a funk during this time of the year. I know there are many reasons, but I truly think we now place too much on ourselves and each other and don’t take the time out to actually relax and enjoy the holiday before we begin jumping into the next holiday. I understand getting jump on Christmas shopping but give the rest of us time to enjoy the holidays as they come in the order they come. You may want to try it. It can be fun!

Just sharing the thoughts and opinions of my maotic mind!

As always, keep hope alive!

Also, Happy 95th to my Guardian Angel Papa, It’s been 5 years since you left us yet I see you in my boy, your great grandson daily. I will always love you!