Poor Thanksgiving. As I have said in another blog, it is the middle child of Halloween and Christmas. No one gets that excited about Thanksgiving. It can best be illustrated by home decor. Some people actually decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving is even over. I always thought it was a little, okay a lot, ridiculous to put up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving was even over. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday after all. A day of family, delicious food and reflection of all the blessing in your life. I thought I would NEVER be the person who overlooks Thanksgiving.
Well I guess you should never say NEVER because when I came back in town, turned the corner into my neighborhood and pulled into my driveway, my jaw nearly hit the floor. While I was out of town, my husband went Clark Griswald on me and decorated our home in Christmas lights, candycane lit walkways and a HUGE blow up Santa Claus that pops out of a Christmas tree on our front lawn. I was mortified. Not just that, but he will not agree with me that all of it should not be turned on until after Thanksgiving. So five days before Thanksgiving, I was the house with the most obnoxious Christmas decor on the street. Sigh....I guess there are just some battles I refuse to fight. Anyways, back to being thankful...
Thanksgiving is a time when entire families come together and celebrate each other. They celebrate the blessings in their lives. Every year my family cooks and gathers together and just enjoys being in each other's company. It is such a wonderful feeling of love and gratefulness. We recognize that we have each other, we have our health and we have everything in life we need and a lot of things that we want. We really are so fortunate.
On this Thanksgiving, I will be thinking of a good friend from college. He has been in the hospital and has been diagnosed with a disease called Guillain-Barre. It basically is an autoimmune disorder where your own immune system attacks your nervous system. Two weeks ago, he was rushed to the emergency room for extreme abdominal pain and shortly after he coded (his heart stopped) for the first time. Since then, he has coded four more times and has lost all feeling in his lower extremities. For Thanksgiving, he will be in a hospital bed, on a ventilator, not able to walk or even eat a big turkey dinner. I can not imagine the frustration he must be feeling. To not be able to enjoy the holidays or fix what is wrong with him. Even though most fully recover from Guillain-Barre (this includes walking again), some do not. For those that do fully recover, it takes years. He has a long road ahead of him. Here he was, new out of residency for dermatology, has a one year old son and a beautiful wife and now his life has been put on hold. It makes me sad for him but also so grateful for my life.
Once again, I am reminded of how precious and fragile life is. We shouldn't focus on what we don't have, but should instead focus on the blessings that are in our lives. I sometimes get frustrated with my own hardship, but sometimes it takes a situation like my friend's to make me see that, yes, it could be worse and take advantage of how great you have it, because it could all change in an instant.
So I am thankful for this Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the happiness the day will bring. I am thankful that my family is healthy and can gather together at my parents' home. I am thankful that we will have a warm, heaping plate of delicious food set down before us. I am thankful that my husband will be there to share it with me and that we aren't spending the day in a hospital room. Thanksgiving is a pretty special day, even if it isn't full of candy and presents. Instead, it fills your heart with appreciation. Though often overlooked, I guess even the middle child has its time to shine.
"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." ~ Brian Tracy
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