What Are You Thankful For?

            Today, at least in the United States, it’s Thanksgiving.

            And that means a lot of different things, to a lot of different people depending on who you’re talking to. To some people, today is all about spending time with their families. To others, they see it as a day of unity. But me? I see today as a really, really good excuse to stay at home, in my most comfortable pair of pajamas, and make a ton of food.

            (Though, just between you and me, I think I’m only in it for the mashed potatoes and the cheeseball.)

            This is going to be the second Thanksgiving without my mom, and that’s hard. I can’t even begin to stop and tell you how much I miss her. I miss spending the day of Thanksgiving in the kitchen with her. Starting the turkey, potatoes, and everything else, and then in between needing to check on the food we’d be sitting together in the living room playing games on the Wii or the Switch.

            We would catch up on our weekly TV shows from my nights at work, and watching movies, if there was anything we wanted to see that was out. Then we’d sit as a family and eat dinner together when everything was ready. Those are some of my favorite memories of her… and I’d do anything just to be able to do it all again, one more time.

            This year, we’re making turkey, potatoes, a cheeseball, having shrimp, and my little brother’s favorite barbeque sausages. My grandma is making cornbread. It won’t be what it used to be- because without my mom, it could never be the same but, maybe it’s time to make some new traditions. We’ll still eat at the table, and maybe I can bully my little brother into playing Mario with me. Maybe we’ll play cards or dice after dinner, I don’t know. But what I do know, is that I’ll be spending the day with some of the people that I love most in the world.

            What are you thankful for?

            In a word. Family.

-Sky