My husband is out of town for work and I have no assurance that he will make it home in time for Thanksgiving. When he's home, I irritate him and he irritates me, but when he's gone, it's like the sun has gone missing from the galaxy.
My college girl arrived home from Kentucky last night. My heart is full. At one point last night, six of us girls were crammed into the bathroom while my daughters modeled all the formal dresses they had worn over the years. Girl stuff. And at another point in the evening, my college girl gave a conceptual lecture -- complete with diagrams -- on astronomy to her 11 year old brother. I think his brain started to melt.
Today we're going to have lunch and do some shopping with my father and stepmother who are visiting from Texas. It's much colder here than they're used to, so mostly we're going to be looking for winter coats and some hoodies. Bonus points will be awarded if we can score Ohio State gear from the Goodwill. Dad is going to the OSU v Michigan football fame on Saturday and needs to dress the part.
The holiday season contains hundred of landmines for grieving parents. Angela Miller wrote an excellent essay about what it's like to be both grateful and grieving which you can (and should!) read here. "Gratitude is great– really, it is– but it can’t fix child loss. Nothing can. The only fix for my pain would be to raise my child from the dead."
Happy thanksgiving, friends!