Thanksgiving has always been a hard holiday to be away from my family. We have so many traditions that have gone back as long as I remember. Its not your typical day as one might think though. We used to start our day off early and head down to the Senior/Community Center to help finish making and serve Thanksgiving Dinner. As I got older we started delivering meals to those homebound. I can't describe how amazing it feels to bring people a good warm meal on an otherwise "empty" holiday for them. I know that the smiles on their face when they open the door and see me (a complete stranger) has made their entire day! Some even know about what time we will be there delivering and be waiting=) They often want to chat and talk about their holiday plans, family, etc. It melts my heart and brings tears to my eyes that this simple kind act has such a HUGE impact. Once we are done delivering we usually make our way back to the center and have a simple meal ourselves. We aren't at home slaving away in the kitchen nor do we rush home to try to come up with anything fancy. Those events make Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving in our home.
Now that I am no longer home its a little bit different. I haven't heard of or found any centers that have such a meal program out here *sad* so we have a mini Thanksgiving celebration of our own. Its kind of funny watching Aaron and I dig through the frozen turkeys to find the smallest one=) There are only two of us, plus a J now. We don't need a whole lot! Luckily we are surrounded by our Army Family. We all seem to be in the same situation on making way too much food for just a single family. So, we decide to come together and do a potluck style Turkey Day.
This year we celebrated with the Furman Family and the Byrnes. It was so wonderful being surrounded by those I love most here at Ft Campbell. Quenton decided he was going to fry his first turkey and I tackled a ham. We even have a new mandatory dessert every year...OREOS! Of course there is a story behind it=) Viviana called me in the morning to add something to the Walmart list before we came over. She asked for some "oreos" because they didn't have enough. I assumed that she was making some dessert and just needed some more. So went in and managed to get everything on my list without a problem *score*. When we arrived I told Jess I had her stuffing and Viv the oreos. At this moment everyone was quiet and giving me the weirdest look. Well, I guess she needed more OIL as in peanut oil for the turkey and somehow I got oreos from it. Hahahaha...yeah yeah...we all got a good laugh at Krys' expense. It was pretty funny though, and EVERYONE enjoyed those Oreos!
The night was full of fun and laughter. I am so thankful that even though I wasn't able to spend the holiday with my family, I was able to spend it with my new family! I hope everyone had a blessed day and were able to spend it with those they love.
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