My dessert contribution was this delicious Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle which I have made for several Thanksgiving parties in the past. I don't have any other pictures because the camera never made it in the house. Perhaps some from Kelly will pop up?
My mind drifted back and forth from the past to the present and I couldn't help but long for that past which included people close to me and that was filled with the noise and food and smells that were familiar. A past that was filled with laughing and reminiscing and trying to pull off a game with 25 people. A past full of traditions, even after Thanksgiving, that were special to just us.
....And then I drift back to the present....full of goodness in its own right, but struggling to find the comfort of home among the unfamiliar and longing for the time to pass and for the new traditions to reveal themselves that bring the warm feelings that are supposed to come with the holiday season.
Grief is close to the surface and yet I allow my mind to be filled with the eternal and for the things that matter most. How do I keep Jesus close as we pass through the craziness of the holidays and through the sadness of the things lost? What are my kids learning in the midst of it all? Are we making it special even though it's new?
Sorry, didn't mean to get all depressing.
I think one of the best things about the holidays right now is sharing it with my kids. I love their excitement and questions and getting to do all those things I remember doing...like making Christmas chains! We are going to try and make Christmas day special and do something totally different since we will, again, not be with our family.
Today, we are heading off to get some lights....and hopefully by the end of the weekend, we will have a tree. Time to fish out all those Christmas boxes from the basement!
Welcome Christmas time!
5 comments:
I agree, the holidays are not the same, I should have been hitting chums with a fly on the Naselle River back in Washington, not hanging in Kansas. A tradition that will probably be lost forever.
Uncle Bubba
how eloquently you write sweetheart....and how closely your words mirrored my own thoughts and the feelings that this Thanksgiving evoked. I was thankful to be with family, I was thankful that I got to cook, I was and am thankful for my husband of nearly 33 years, the two grandchildren, daughter and son that were present and knowing that even though it was very different from our traditional family thanksgivings of the past, it was special in its own way. All of us would have chosen something a little different, but even though most of us are separated by great distances, our hearts are so closely connected that we aren't really so very far apart. I am thankful for the ties that bind us together...one heart
Making new traditions is hard, especially when you long for the old ones. I am thankful that you could spend the day with us.
Here's a link to our pictures--including one of a very cool Batman.
http://raudenbushfamily.blogspot.com/2008/11/giving-thanks.html
KJR
New Family Tradition:
Kaylee sends the Cronquists a Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle every Thanksgiving
Kaylee-
I just got all caught up on your life...heehee... atleast as much as you can through the bloggysphere... I can really relate to what you are saying about new and old traditions and even though we are back "home" in Shelton, it isn't the same..everyone else is gone... so I too will join you in looking forward towards new traditions and maybe a glance or two or three backwards at the old. Miss you friend.
Traci by the way...I finally posted
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