Native Americans At Thanksgiving

When I placed a turkey message on my page on Facebook and got no feedback from family or Native American friends, I knew what that was about. A friend who is very in tune with the Native American culture commented about not "Celebrating Taking Day."

I responded by saying I know and I can't help but take every opportunity to spend time with family and friends. And gratitude is so important for me every day! I choose to not take this time away from myself.

Then I added, I know the history and someday so will many others due to those who let us know! Thank you. I had already decided in my fifties, that I would continue to get together with my children on Thanksgiving.

It was feeling more and more that Christmas and Thanksgiving were the times of the year when we expected that we would see most if not all our children and grandchildren and now great-grandchildren, I would not miss that.

Our oldest son was hosting Thanksgiving at his house for his in-laws this year, so he was the only one to sneak away for a visit. So, we didn't see any grandchildren or great-grandchildren from him.

This year my youngest son hosted Thanksgiving. He made his first turkey.

When we arrived, first thing I saw was his turkey as he was basting it. I said the turkey is done. He said, "No, it has about 30 minutes yet." I said, No, your turkey is done. It looks great. Nice job. He grabbed the thermometer and it was overdone according to him!

Then he told his fiance', "My mom came in and deemed the turkey done and it is overdone." I then added that his first turkey looks great and I am sure it will be great! And it was, as was the ham. The turkey all went!

When I asked my cousin if she was getting together with her grown children for Thanksgiving, she said, "It was crazy last year as some are into non-colonization, while others are saying, what do you mean we aren’t having turkey?"

Then she said, "It started out like a good idea, and then it started to turn and I crashed and blew up. I am not sure what this year will bring, truthfully."

On Friday, there was Native American Heritage Day. Okay, then. What happened in my life to celebrate this? We visited the hubby's children. His children and grandchildren are split mostly due to addiction. We have been in recovery for decades, so we can almost stay out of the split.

Hubby has more difficulty. His children bring up memories of his mother, who died from cirrhosis, and his brother who died from HIV/AIDS. He seldom talks about them, but the split brings up memories of his mother's drinking and her actions and reactions with his brother.

There was a lot of sadness until the laughter started with his daughter and son-in-law at their house. It was so much better than being in negativity. I can really see how addiction demands we stay negative. His daughter is in recovery and is going through a training program for counselors.

It was great stopping there on our way out of town. Hubby said, "It is so different spending time with people in recovery!" And I agree!

They were out shopping the sales and glad to have a reason to be home. They had a table full of Christmas gifts and cleared that so we could sit at their table. After the serious talk about where we just visited, we got to the humor.

As we were getting ready to leave, we were laughing when we were told that at our son-in-law's family get-together, there was some trouble as well. His mother accused his wife of laughing too much! I asked if she said thank you, and more laughing ensued as she said, "Yes, I did!"

Some families are better with photos than others! I have no recent photos of John's children or grandchildren other than the wedding in August, where only 2 of the 4 were there. I'm waiting on school pictures now.