The house is dark, I am in shorts and a t-shirt, the kids are parked in front of the TV, the husband is in his office getting dressed (it has his very special, completely his own shower) and the turkey is in the oven. It is cold and gray here in the suburbs of New Orleans and feels like we are all alone. Not that I am totally alarmed by that, besides I am sure that many of our neighbors have decided to stay home seeing that there is an oil fire still going on a main stretch of highway.
Our lives have changed a lot in 3 months. I can’t say that we didn’t expect it, but it is always a shock when it actually happens. I know that this change, no matter how big, will bring us to a much better position in the coming months and years. Things will be our own and we will answer to no one. I won’t even say that it has been hard, because to be really honest our lives have not changed much. Our bills are paid on time, just not as much as we would like, we still get to have date nights, just on a budget and Christmas shopping is a little stressful because of said budget, but in all fairness we have it a lot better than others. George is working hard and we are learning from the mistakes of our carelessness.
My mind has been focused on traditions, because that is what people do on holidays. I have struggled with this since having children, because we have no hard and fast traditions, but we have wonderful memories. Like the time we couldn’t make it to my dad’s house, because it snowed. Oh yes, it snowed in New Orleans on CHRISTMAS. A day that started out sad, became great when we ate dinner with our friends and had a snow fight. There were the last Thanksgivings with my grandparents. The Christmas grandpa got a Saints blanket and I swiped his huge bag of M&M’s and Edward Scissorhands movie. He wouldn’t have liked them, anyway. Then there were the first holidays without them that were bitter sweet. And the first Thanksgiving and Christmas after the devastation of Katrina, which made us way more thankful than any year before.
I had many traditions when I was a kid and I did look forward to them, but who is to say that things must go the same every year. Sometimes we need a break from the travelling and the huge gatherings and then other times that is all we want. Today, our DVD player is filled with Home Alone, Home Alone 2, ELF, and A Christmas story; we will watch TV til our eyes fall out. The kids will run around either in pjs or get dressed, frankly it is up to them and we will enjoy a meal that was prepared by George and I. Tomorrow, we will witness snow (Yes, in New Orleans. Why doesn’t anyone believe me?) and explore the Chrismtas decorations at the Fairmont hotel and Harrah’s casino. Will we do that again next year, who knows? Traditions are nice, but memories are better.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope your day is filled with great food, good friends, fun family and the best memories a lifetime can offer.
