{"id":767,"date":"2015-11-25T05:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2015-11-25T05:00:26","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T05:00:26","slug":"rrgs-grateful-list-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"RRG’s Grateful List"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time of year can be challenging for many of us.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve ever been through a holiday season without someone you love, then you know what I mean.\u00a0 Thanksgiving falls right in the midst of some of those \u201canniversaries\u201d that aren\u2019t really the kind that you celebrate.\u00a0 I have an especially hard time with Thanksgiving because the last one that my dad was alive, I was supposed<\/em> to be at home in Michigan with my family.\u00a0 But since they had decided to go to Ypsilanti to have the traditional feast in my brother\u2019s college apartment, I decided not to make the drive back to the mitten.\u00a0 Instead, we spent the day with some of my then husband\u2019s family in the Chicago suburbs.\u00a0 At some point during the day, I called my family to say Happy Thanksgiving.\u00a0 I called my dad\u2019s cell phone, but at we talked, I picked up on the fact that it sounded like they were at home.\u00a0 Puzzled I asked, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d\u00a0 And my worst fear was realized.\u00a0 They had in fact changed their plans and cooked up the turkey, along with all the other goodies, right at home in EL.\u00a0 My dad explained that they didn\u2019t think I planned to come home regardless, but I bawled into the phone that I would have been there if I had known they were HOME.\u00a0 My dad felt terrible.\u00a0 I felt terrible.\u00a0 I spent most of the rest of that day feeling sad.\u00a0 And that is still my association with Thanksgiving.\u00a0 A few days later, it became clear that if I had been there, it would have been the last time I saw my dad.\u00a0 Did I want that as my association with Thanksgiving?\u00a0 Which is worse?\u00a0 So, all these years later, and I am finally coming to the realization that I may never reconcile that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what to do with Thanksgiving, in that respect, and it\u2019s possible I never will.<\/p>\n

In large part, for that reason, I have tried to add a lot of \u201cHappy\u201d to this Thanksgiving week by catching up with several of my friends that I have been neglecting in my chaos of the fall.\u00a0 On Saturday, the beau and I hosted Friendsgiving at my house.\u00a0 We made a ham and several friends brought a variety of dishes.\u00a0 We had wine, champagne that Heather brought, and Fireball soaked cherries.\u00a0 We had more mashed potatoes than we knew what to do with since Vega made the equivalent of a pound per person.\u00a0 We had a very rich Reese\u2019s Cheesecake that goes a long way.\u00a0 Steve was convinced he could eat the entire huge first piece I cut.\u00a0 He made it about half way. It was a valiant effort.<\/p>\n

On Monday I had lunch with my friend, Stephanie, who was my very first friend in the 4th<\/sup> grade.\u00a0 There is a good chance Brian and I will get together with her and a couple of our other classmates back in the \u2018Ville later this week.\u00a0 Stephanie can make me laugh til my stomach hurts and she can remind me that no matter what things will be ok.<\/p>\n

And then today, I had lunch with my sweet friend Jaime.\u00a0 She is a ray of sunshine in a sometimes dark world, and she always shows up in my life right when I need her.\u00a0 Today was no exception.\u00a0 We both have a tough time with the holidays.\u00a0 She lost her dad a little more than a year ago and her story is absolutely tragic.\u00a0 But her strength and resolve to overcome the unthinkable, inspires me to keep shining the light.<\/p>\n

We caught up on all the happenings in our busy lives, talked about our plans for the holiday and we talked about my impending trip to Nicaragua that is edging ever closer.\u00a0 I mentioned that there was no coincidence in the timing of this trip.\u00a0 When I signed up back in the beginning of the year, I still hadn\u2019t even thought about going back to school.\u00a0 When I started school, it looked like my trip would land right in the middle of my externship.\u00a0 But due to a transfer of credits and finishing up early, I find myself in between programs with no school, no work, no major commitments.\u00a0 But in addition to the fact that the logistics of the trip worked out perfectly, I see even more reasons why this is the perfect time to go.<\/p>\n

Sometimes its easy to get so focused on the craziness of life that is happening right in front of us in our own tiny little corner of the world, that we forget that there is so much more to the world.\u00a0 And for that reason, I am thankful that I get to leave my stress, and struggles, and blahs of what is happening in St. Louis, behind for a week to reprioritize and focus on someone else.<\/p>\n

Something else Jaime and I talked about was an article she read lately called Grieving and Grateful.\u00a0 Even if our grief, that will never completely go away, it is still absolutely possible to find joy and be grateful.\u00a0 Sometimes it comes easy and sometimes you have to search for it.\u00a0 But without further ado, and in no particular order, I give you\u2026<\/p>\n

RRG\u2019s Grateful List<\/p>\n