The Holidays are upon us! They were officially kicked off on Thanksgiving Day. That is the day that families get together and have a big turkey dinner. They sit together watching the parade or old Christmas movies and conversing, as the aroma of the turkey cooking makes its way into the living room and all through the house, its warmth making everyone feel comforted and happy. That has always been my favourite part of Thanksgiving. Those few minutes with your loved ones around you, with the children playing. Those few moments before I need to get up and prepare the finishing touches for the meal. Such wonderful happy times.

     But times do change, children grow up and sometimes move away. In my case we are the ones that moved away. A year and a half ago, we moved to Mississippi. My husband wanted to go home to his roots, so we began a new chapter in our lives. Mother was living with us and was in fairly good health for it was summer time, and that is when we decided to make our big move. In her younger days, she loved to travel cross country, meeting people and seeing the sights, so we planned our move all around mom. We planned to drive cross country so she could, once again, do what she loved to do most, travel. We drove out of the driveway of our house in California at 9:00 am on a Monday morning and started our cross country move to Mississippi. My husband drove the moving van ahead of us, while my mother and I followed in the truck, with our dogs, Pooch and Misty, sitting in the back seat. I often think back to these wonderful memories. This would be Mom's last cross country trip. Looking back, I am so glad we did it this way. Mom and I had the time of our lives travelling together in the truck.

     As fall came around, her health started to fail. With our children and family celebrating Thanksgiving in California, the three of us spent a wonderful Thanksgiving in our new house in Mississippi. Little did I realize that this would be our last Thanksgiving together. Thanksgiving Day is my favourite day of the whole year. The turkey baking in the oven seems to give the house a warm glow, as its aroma travels throughout. This is the one day of the year that families take the time to be together, instead of rushing through their days, all going in different directions. This is the one day of the year that we give thanks for being together, for having each other. This is the one day of the year where everything else can wait. That last Thanksgiving Day with my mom, I cooked the same exact meal that I had cooked every other Thanksgiving. I followed the same pattern, as every thought and every movement had a tradition all of its own. Again, as in Thanksgivings past, everything, except for the last minute preparations was ready, and we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, as we conversed and enjoyed each other's company.

     Mother passed away the following July. As fall approached and I watched the leaves start to drop off the trees, I knew that Thanksgiving Day would soon be here. This time it would be so very different. Tradition had broken. The old days were over. This would be a time to start new traditions, but how? As the day drew closer, I knew that this year I would not be able to cook that wonderful dinner with that wonderful warm aroma wafting through the house. This year my house would not have that warm comforting glow. This year I would have to make other arrangements, maybe even go to a restaurant. All I knew is that I could not bear the thought of cooking a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner without my family, especially without my mother. Those wonderful memories all of a sudden were so terribly painful....
MORE...and to read the rest of this wonderful seasonal article

By
Luella May©2005
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Luella has her own website called Luella's Corner and is also the assistant editor to
Oakwoods Poetry Blog which are all part of the Oakwood Grafix Group of websites.
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