I ask this question as a way to have a conversation about the pain we share in having what may be a rather lonely Thanksgiving. I know I am not the only person here who will be having the first Thanksgiving of my life with no guests at all.
My husband and I will be making most of the meal we have always made, but we will not be sharing it with anyone but ourselves. We considered going to my sons' place for Thanksgiving, being very, very careful, but with the recent uptick in Covid-19 cases, we agreed with them that we should stay at home and look forward to next year together.
We will talk with them with a Zoom/Facetime conversation that will include some other members of our extended family, some of whom will be completely alone. It is kind of sad, but talking in this way will be better than nothing. We are using both Zoom and FaceTime because not everyone has either one and those of us who can do both want to include as many as possible. So we will have the iPad and the PC on the coffee table while we talk to others.
After 8 months of staying home, I find that my house is very clean, I have made good progress in my gardens, and I have done my best at being positive. Nevertheless, I am near tears as I write this, simply worn down with the stress of it all. I will put on a happy face for the big meal I am preparing for me and my husband, the family call. I really and truly am grateful for all my blessings. Still, though, I do feel a bit sad and lonely. I feel in need of a touch, a hug, I talk to my Mom, my sisters, my sons on the phone, see them electronically, but live in relative isolation.
I know that I am lucky. My husband and I have each other, we live in a house we love, with some views of the town where we live and the mountains beyond. We are not at risk of running out of food, we have enough, and will be able to continue having groceries and other needs delivered to our home. We are grateful and thankful. We wish everyone else were this lucky.
Yet we are lonely and sad, trying to make the best of things. To all the others here who are struggling with these same problems, and more, I wish you well, I feel your pain. You are not alone in your loneliness. You are not alone in your need for touch and contact. But you will survive this and we may meet again in the future, have that hug, and cry all we want without guilt or shame. Have the best Thanksgiving you can have and remember that next year will be better. Love to you all.
Stay safe!
I am having dinner at Daughter, SIL and Grandkids house. (4 doors up the street) I am bringing desserts (yes plural) and roasted Brussels Sprouts with bacon, cranberries and pecans as well as our favorite Amish Dinner Rolls (thank you King Arthur Flour for an awesome recipe).
Desserts are (the deserve their own paragraph!)
Pumpkin Cake with cream Cheese Frosting
French Silk Pie
Pumpkin layered "torte" graham cracker base, cheese cake type layer, pumpkin mousse topped with whipped cream.
I think I will skip dinner and just do desserts! Isn't that an option when you get old(er)?
Happy Thanksgiving, have a SAFE holiday.
Worried.......I'm in Colo. Whole Foods does not sell wine here either. They do sell beer & hard seltzer though, which is odd, isn't it? In fact, it was only recently the grocery stores started carrying full strength BEER. Up till recently, they could only sell 3.2% beer! And, when I was a young girl here, there were 3.2 bars you could go to if you were 18 but under 21! Brings back memories; IDK if they exist anymore b/c my bar hopping days are long gone now. My neighbor has a Traeger grill; I didn't realize it cooks faster than a regular grill.
Bridger, I'm glad your DH is home! I never heard of a roasting hen..........just roaster chickens or turkey!
GingerMay: start a gratitude journal; I read an article about that today. People who are getting depressed about the pandemic & the restrictions need to focus on the good in their lives, and writing daily, or even weekly, in a gratitude journal puts things into better perspective. I know for me, 2020 has been THE most stressful year of my life filled with many worries and surgeries and bad news in spades. I am looking forward to better days ahead.
My amazing DIL brought over 2 huge BOXES of Thanksgiving dinner she and my DH's son prepared for us! There's turkey AND pot roast in there, along with a ton of side dishes and rolls, etc. The nurse said DH has to eat A LOT of high fat foods for the next 2-3 weeks b/c he's lost too much weight and is STILL losing weight in SPITE of all the calories he's eating. Me? I'll be GAINING weight while he's losing! God give me strength. We will be doing a 6 pm ZOOM call with all the 7 children we have between us and their spouses/SOs.
Anyway, she brought over the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten. Ready? It's a Christmas ornament; a snowflake, gold on one side, silver on the other. In the middle is a circle that says 2020, and surrounding it is the word FU*K without the asterisk in script letters! Yep, FU*K 2020 is the message of the snowflake! I couldn't agree more.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
My group of people includes my son whom I see once a month and my mother. As a Granny, I am still allowed to care for my infant grandson, and I am thankful for that.
Christmas will be quiet. My son and my Mum. No big fondue party on Christmas Eve, no brunch for 20 on Christmas Day.
It is lonely and it has been a long time in this new reality. I am sewing more masks this weekend, as I need a fresh one for each outing, not that those are very frequent either.
One thing I do that is fun. A girlfriend and I watch movies together 1-2 nights a week. We alternate choosing the show, it has to be on Netflix or Prime, as we both have those services. We each have created a watch list. We talk on the phone as we prepare to watch the show, snacks, drinks, etc, then we queue up the show and hit play. After it is over we talk again. It is not the same as watching a movie together in person, but it is something.
I guess, I feel the same as most people about 2020! I'll be glad when it's over!🤬
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!