Friday, November 23, 2012

Our Small Thanksgiving


Holidays brings feelings of goodwill, love, and appreciation.  I have felt all those good feelings, but unfortunately it has been coupled with deep sadness and loss.

We decided to have Thanksgiving with just our family of three.  As I prepared our Thanksgiving dinner, I found myself tearing up and hastily wiping away the tears- I didn't want to damper the good spirits that RM and Moe were in.

For months, I have prayed fervently for peace and acceptance for dreams that will never come to pass, only to find myself sinking deeper into feelings of sadness and loneliness.  Feelings of disappointment and loss over certain family members compounded to my sadness.

Will I ever feel peace?

The answer came from something that Moe shared during our Thanksgiving dinner.

RM asked each of us to share what we were grateful for.  This is what Moe shared;

"I'm grateful for my family...of course, it would be great if our family was bigger, but I'm grateful that I was born to THIS family."  He paused for a moment, looked down at his plate, and said, "I'm also grateful that I can just be a student and concentrate on school- there's a lot of kids in school that can't do that."

Moe paused again, shook his head as if he was in disbelief over something, and continued, "I'm also glad that I'm alive. With everything that happened to me earlier this year- I'm grateful that I'm alive and I can think- my brain works well!"

Moe was surprised to find that RM and I were crying.  He pretended not to notice and continued to eat- a great way to avoid awkwardness!

Heavenly Father answered a part of my prayer through my son.  A reminder that the most important people in my life, were the ones that I was having Thanksgiving dinner with. 

It was a small Thanksgiving dinner for three.  But the love that I felt in my tiny dining room was HUGE.

 I'm grateful for my BIG family of three.

*******


Thanksgiving Highlights:


RM was in charge of the Turkey.  He stuffed that turkey with oranges, lemons, garlic, onions, and variety of herbs.  He lathered olive oil and butter all over the turkey, placed some of the herbs underneath the skin, and poured chicken broth into the roaster.  It was moist, tender, flavorful, and the best smelling and tasty  turkey- EVER!
 
The flavor from the drippings also made great gravy.
 
 
 
 
RM is not shy about complimenting himself on his cooking.  He really is a good cook! He credits Chef Bobby Flay for his cooking style.
 
 
  
 

Moe helped with some of the cooking.  I asked him to tear up the bread for the stuffing.  He asked me what size.  I answered,   "Sacrament size".  He understood that very well.  





 

We kept the menu very simple.  My work schedule has kept me tired and busy so I didn't felt like spending hours in the kitchen.  The only homemade desserts I made were pocket jam pies,  and since Moe's taste for desserts are limited to brownies and chocolate chip cookies- I made a brownie chocolate chip cookie bar.  It was a hit!




At midnight we headed to Kohl for our Black Friday shopping!  This was the line that we were in. The line wrapped all the way to the back of the building! On the the other side there was also another line that was equally long.
 
The store was crowded. You constantly bumped into people, there was gridlock in the aisles, and we stood in line for about thirty minutes to purchase our items.
We arrived home after two in the morning.
 
Will I do this again next year?
 
You betcha!
 
 

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