We made it! We got through Thanksgiving for another year. Yay us! I remember Thanksgiving four years ago, I had just found out. I was supposed to host my daughter, her boyfriend, a soldier that worked for me and her two kids and husband and my son, his wife and my two grandkids. Two days before, my daughter decided to have dinner at her boyfriend's mother's house. My son decided to stay home with his inlaws. The day before the soldier said her husband was smoking a turkey and they weren't coming.
So, I was alone, with a thawed and brined turkey in the fridge. I decided to go to the river, the boat launch where XWF and I had fished so many times, and I cried, oh, how I cried, over all the loss in my life. I had a runaway XWF. He told me ILYBINILWY, he loved her, a woman he had only met on the internet.
While I was there at the launch, crying and grieving, my daughter called. She wanted to be home with me, and have dinner. Then my son called to say that he, my DIL and my two grandbabies were coming for dinner. Then the soldier called and said her, her husband and their two kids were coming. At 10:00 people. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. For realz.
I stuffed that bitch and threw that damn turkey into the oven. I was making mashed potatoes with my right hand, and stirring the gravy with my left, while ignoring the damn turkey in the oven. It could go straight, screaming, to hell.
Did I mention that I have a pond and landscaped yard? They wanted to see the koi and spend time on the deck. Soooooooooo, clean deck, clean leaves off of walkway. Sweating like a pig, vacuuming with one hand while dusting with another, screaming to all the Gods in the universe that life was unfair, while washing the Thanksgiving dishes and throwing the linens in the wash......cleaning the shower while I was washing my hair and shaving my legs...I had been out of the shower for ten minutes when the first guest showed up.
And, sweet fancy Moses, the turkey turned out to be the best I had ever made, the gravy and potatoes were perfectly seasoned even though I had never tasted them,and the broccoli and squash casserole were amazing, and everyone had the best Thanksgiving they had ever remembered. After everyone finally left, and three shots of Patron later, I got onto my knees and thanked God that life was truly good, and knew, at that point, that I would make it.
Life will go on, and we will make it better for all of those who know us, because, that is who we are. The betrayed, the strong, the successful. Because we have been making it real for our families alone for all these years. We are awesome and those losers will someday just be fading memories in the rearview. Rock on!
[This message edited by welcome14 at 1:39 AM, November 29th (Friday)]
