Thanksgiving

Well, I have to start by saying that we do have a lot to be thankful for this year. This thanksgiving has been very stressful, and yet, at times, very enjoyable.

I feel a little sick about the fact that I did have a little fun this weekend, but I think that's what we needed.

Bad things always happen in threes, and this week was no exception. My aunt had a car accident, although no one told me until Saturday. She is ok, but her echo needs some TLC.

We had planned that since we were both off for the weekend (working monday, gotta love time and a half!) we would make the trek to dad's place and visit the family.



We arrived and learned that my uncle Dennis had passed away on Friday evening. I haven't seen him in awhile, although I have talked to him. He was a great man and I will miss him.






The worst news ... my sister, Tara, fell down a cliff while trying to help someone. In the process she broke her back. As a result she was airlifted to a hospital 5 hours away and underwent spinal surgery yesterday. She came through surgery very well, and there is no paralysis which we are hugely thankful for, but I am sure she will have quite the recovery ahead of her. Dad has been in the hospital with her, while the rest of the family was at home.

Thanksgiving lunch consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and pumpkin pie. Definitely not traditional, but I didn't see the point in my step-mother fussing over a huge lunch when there was only 4 of us, and we had more important things on our minds.

During all this chaos, my youngest sister celebrated her 16th birthday on Sunday. We did our best to keep everyone's minds occupied by playing quite a lot of rockband and mariokart. Thankfully the 4 of us (Matt, Tiffany, Laura, and myself) make quite the band. I had to do a little singing and embarrass myself before I could convince Laura to sing. But in the end it was a great way to break the tension and focus on something else.

In the end, our thanksgiving reminded us of the true meaning of the celebration. I give thanks for the fact that my sister survived, as another girl there that night may not be so lucky. I am thankful for the doctor that kept her safe and preserved her mobility, and I am thankful for the time, however nontraditional a celebration, we had with my family.