“Lord of all to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.”
It was twenty years ago this week. It was a unique Thanksgiving for our family and one that I still recall with great fondness.
Most years we had hosted Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends who would otherwise be alone. But 1997 was not most years. My dad had died about a month earlier, 18 months after my mom had passed, and this would be my first Thanksgiving without either of them. I didn’t want to try to have a “normal” Thanksgiving when things didn’t feel normal.
So I asked my husband and kids if they would do something different with me that year, and gratefully they were all in. We packed our camper and headed west to Big Bend National Park for the long weekend. It was exactly what my heart and soul needed.
I can still remember our campsite in the Cottonwood Campground of Big Bend. It was right along the Rio Grande, with the rock face of the Santa Elena Canyon on the other side of the river. We had beautiful Texas fall weather, with clear, crisp mornings and warm afternoons.
On Thanksgiving morning I leaned out of the camper door with my cup of coffee and was awestruck at the sight of the sunrise exploding off the face of the rock, filling the campground with rays of red and orange light. I crept out of the camper to stand in the stillness and soak it in. It felt like a message just for me: “All is well.”
We shared our Thanksgiving meal of turkey breast grilled over an open fire, potatoes baked in the coals, canned green beans and Stove Top stuffing, on a picnic table. I did make a pumpkin pie before we left home which was somewhat cracked up in the travel but no one seemed to notice. It’s amazing what you can cover up with whip cream.
All in all, that Thanksgiving was “Simply Abundant.”
Things were different, but they were good. There was grief, and there was great love. I felt the emptiness, yet I felt complete too.
I still enjoy hosting Thanksgiving – and will tomorrow – but it’s good to know that the experience of Thanksgiving is not dependent on the perfect meal or a beautiful dinner table.
If you find yourself in a year when things are not not the norm, take heart. Listen to the still, small voice within you that knows what you need; ask for support in that, and allow your experience to be Simply Abundant.
In gratitude,