It is the last day of NaBloPoMo (and the Internet breathed a sigh of relief). As a peace offering for clogging your Feed Reader, I offer up Chocolate Bark. So easy. So yummy.
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Date: Saturday November 29, 2008Posted in: Emily, Family, Graham, Nathan, holidays
On Thursday afternoon we were listening to the radio in the van after picking Graham up from school. The weather forecast for Friday was for a “slight chance” of “scattered flurries”. We woke up to a light dusting of snow and watched the flakes continue to fall from the sky.
We dropped Graham off at school (Still snowing), got some groceries (Yep, snowing), went to Mom’s group (Snow, snow, snow). We walked out of the church and encountered a good four inches of the white stuff.
I managed to make it home (Hooray for studded tires!) and Matthew spent the next hour or so plowing our driveway (More like a country road).The snow continued to fall.
Today is Thanksgiving in the US of A (Hello, my American friends! I hope your turkey is all you hoped it would be!)
Here is where I put a bit of a damper on the parade of Joy! and Love! and Thanksgiving!
The Holidays have always left me all mixed up and jumbled. I vacillate between Happy and Sad. While I love Baby Jesus, and what He means, and all of the spin-off feelings (Good will and cheer Every! Where! You! Turn!), my life has not often reflected what movies and such portray the Holidays to be.
The ideal is that there are these grand family gatherings. Grandmas and Grandpas, Brothers and Sisters, Aunts and Uncles, Nieces and Nephews, Cousins and Chaos. There may be a few kinks and quirks, but overall the Holiday is a time for extended family to get together, to connect with each other, to make new memories as a family.
This was not the case in my house.
When I was but a few months old my parents left the small town in Ontario where I was born (and where every blood relative of ours lived, including my Dad’s three children from his first marriage), and moved to the north coast of BC. We were as far away as we could be while still living in the same country.
Fast forward three years and my Mom and Dad called it quits.
One of my earliest memories is of my one-year-old-sister and I sitting on the steps and watching our Dad drive away.
Holidays from then on were shared between our parents. We split the time between the two, which was all fine and good, but there were no large family gatherings including Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins…it was just us.
When I met Matthew I came up at Christmas to meet his family. Here was this family who had remained intact. He has a Mom and a Dad, a brother and a sister, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. The extended family was only four hours away, as opposed to across the country.
I was marrying into the dream.
The dream is not always the reality, but isn’t that always the case? Life is busy and the four-hour drive does not happen as much as I thought it would. When we do get together it is all good. The kids love their Grandma and Grandpa beyond all measure. They are coming this weekend and my kids can’t hardly wait.
Back to my side of the family. My Dad lives in Vancouver, my Mom on the North Coast. My kids know them a little, but not a lot. They met some cousins from my side last year, but I have no idea when they will meet again.
The extended family. It is scattered. And not at all what I had hoped for.
But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Less family drama, as it were.
I think that my family history is what makes me so thankful for this family of five that I belong to. Somehow, some way, I am married to a man that loves me more than I ever thought was humanly possible.
Together, we have three of the most beautiful, amazing, phenomenal children that this world has ever seen.
We love a God who is alive and well, thankyouverymuch.
Our parents are all alive. Despite our differences and lack of proximity, the loss of any one of them is one that I cannot fathom.
We have been blessed with the greatest group of friends that any human could hope for. I am blown away weekly, sometimes daily.
We have a roof over our heads that is more than just a house. It is our home. One filled with life and laughter and love.
I lack nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I am thankful beyond any measure for all that I have been given. I am also thankful for all of the hurts and disappointments that I have encountered along the way. For had I not experienced the lows, I would likely not realize how good that I truly do have it.
I am thankful for it all. The good, the bad, the ugly.
Amen.
*Poladroid is a free photo application. It is only available to Mac users at this point in time (Yet another reason to switch over to The White Side. Just sayin’…) It’s a whole lot of fun if you get a chance to play with it.
* A Year Ago Today: Proof That My Children Are Da Bomb (Click it. You won’t be disappointed.)
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