Thanksgiving is tomorrow. This doesn't even seem possible. It seems like just yesterday was January 1st.. This year is literally FLYING by. I don't know how I feel about this.. yeah sure, I am BEYOND excited to eat all the yummy goodness my family members bake.. but it's just not right this year. I feel like this is the last REAL Thanksgiving of my "childhood". This entire Thanksgiving week I've been home with my family, and the Bauers of course.. But next year, chances are I won't have that opportunity. I will have to fly in from Texas.. hopefully. Thanksgiving was my favorite as a kid. Yes, I was a MAJOR fatty (still am) , but the food wasn't the entire reason I loved it so much. I love Thanksgiving for many reasons. I love the family traditions we made. I love the food. I love spending time with my family. I love the memories. My Granny and Granddad always went ALL out on Christmas decorations. When I say all out, I mean it. The saturday before Thanksgiving a big group of family and friends would all work together to put up every scene in my granny's front yard and grub on my Granny's homemade chilli and cinnamon rolls. Every thing from Frosty & his family, to a family caroling, to a church steeple, to santa, to the manger scene, to the HUGE bible, was put up every year along with the beautiful lights. Then, Thanksgiving night, after we held hands for our prayer and ate all the delicious food, the entire family would congregate out on the street to watch as my Granddad turned on the lights to mark the beginning of the Christmas season. I will never forget the way my heart raced as those lights came on.. the beauty of the glow of the string of lights on the Bible.. the proud smile my Granddad had as he saw all of us on the curb side.. the way my Granddad would yell "Jojo" and swarm me in his arms, my head onhis chest, as he whispered he loved me.. the entire night was miraculous. I will forever cherish those Thanksgiving nights. Whenever I think of Thanksgiving, I try to forget the year my Granddad was very ill with cancer. I try to forget that he couldn't keep down a bite of food.. I try to forget that he put on a "happy" face so we would all eat, as he sat on the couch without a single thing on his plate.. I try to forget that he took a bite so my mom would stop worrying, which didn't stay down either.. I try to forget his pain. But nothing, not even the cancer, could keep him from turning on those lights. But then I remember how his face glowed the second he hit the switch and saw the dark night sky light up. That moment, as I stood on the street, I knew that was the last time that would happen.. I knew that was my Granddad's last Thanksgiving with us on this earth.. I knew those decorations and lights would never go up again. I wish we could have continued to decorate my Granny's house every year. I wish my Granddad was still here to celebrate with. I wish I could go back to relive one of those Thanksgiving nights for just one more time.. Over the past few years I have realized that traditions may change, and family members may die, but no matter what, one thing is definite: I am blessed beyond measure .
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