Since tomorrow's Thanksgiving, What's everybody thankful for? CasualConversation

I'm pretty down in the dumps this year (again) missing family and holidays of yore, with 30+ people crowded around the table that stretched from Grandma's kitchen, through her and Granddad's living and dining rooms, all the way to the front door of their house.

I miss turkey and dressing, scalloped oysters, cranberry salad, and grandma's refrigerator pickles. And home made pumpkin pie, of course.

I miss Granddad's refrigerated Hershey bars, Aunt Elsie's giggle, and Dad's heartfelt prayer of gratitude before we were allowed to "dig in".

I miss that carefree feeling of being a kid, surrounded by family, the realization never crossing my mind that one day most of these people would be gone.

This year the family gathering will be 1/10 the size it was back when we celebrated "for real". It'll be just the four of us: myself, my Mom, who doesn't really remember any of the people I'm missing, my son, who never met any of them, and my dog who just wants a bite of steak.

We're having steak because a turkey and all the trimmings is just too much work. (I am going to make cranberry sauce though.) We probably won't get so stuffed we need to nap after dinner. We plan on watching movies and playing games.

Today, though, I have a crap-ton of chores (the usual reality stuff- dishes, laundry, toilet-scrubbing, etc) to get through so cooking and eating and playing games and relaxing are possible. But I'm so bogged down with the bitter-sweet feelings the holidays bring, I just want to sit and daydream and cry.

So, I'm hoping for a little help from you, friends. When I get this way, I know the best medicine is to list all the things I'm grateful for. I start with the usual- a roof, a bed, food, clothes- and I move to the small- my favorite shirt just out of the dryer and still warm. I work up from there, until I get to the most wonderful "blessings" of my life, my son being the ultimate.

So help me out here, guys. Cheer me up. Let's make that list. What usual, small, silly, and wonderful things are you thankful for on Thanksgiving eve 2015?

Thanks in advance, and I wish you all a holiday season utterly absent of bitter and overflowing with sweet! :'-)

Submitted November 25, 2015 at 09:29PM by muddpie4785 http://ift.tt/1Xfpg5i CasualConversation