Don't get me wrong, I think it's a Fantastic Holiday. I think it's great to devote a day thinking about all the things you are grateful for. (Of course, I think it's even better to keep an attitude of thankfulness year round. If people were only grateful for the things we did for them one day out of the year, we'd think ourselves ill used.) Anyway, a day spent with family (or friends) and food with the purpose of thinking about and appreciating all the many things we've been blessed with is a wonderful day indeed.
But sometimes it's hard. Not the thankfulness part. Or the theory behind it all. But the actual implementation of it.
We have no other family near us in our little town here in Arizona, and never is that more apparent than on holidays like Thanksgiving. And that makes me sad. I think of all the people important to me and how far away they are and that makes me sad. And then I have to prepare a big meal, mostly by myself, (As others have been getting more handy in the kitchen, I've been utilizing them more) and serve it to my little family, and it feels like a glorified Sunday dinner, and I'm too busy cooking and cleaning to worry about fun activities for kids to get into the spirit of things, and a centerpiece or place cards, in fact anything even remotely similar is completely forgotten, and it's downright exhausting, and then over too quickly, and then everyone goes to their respective corners while the tryptophan sets in, and then there's a giant mess to clean up, and I do get help with this, but in all honesty, all I'm thinking is, "We should have gone out."
Most of the years I've managed to figure out other plans. Doing something, anything, besides just eating a big ol' turkey to make the day special. Sometimes people come visit us. Sometimes we visit other people. One year we got together with another family in our church who had no plans either, and we split the responsibility and ate dinner with them. It was awesome. One year we had no particular plans, so I had the brilliant idea to drive to California and go to Disneyland. John's aunt and uncle live out there, and we didn't want to impose on them, so I came up with the idea of a picnic on the beach. We'd eat turkey sandwiches on the beach and be together, and it would be a Thanksgiving that the kids would never forget. Of course John's sweet aunt flipped out and would have none of that, and we spent Thanksgiving in their home. I'm still keeping that little picnic on the beach idea tucked safely away for a later date. Just because it's not traditional doesn't make it wrong.
Last year we flew out to Texas. John's sister Corrine lives out there with her family, and their dad and his wife would be coming down from Ohio as well. You can read all about it here, if you so desire.
Anyway, life with a kid with Autism can be fun. One of his particular quirks, or gifts if you will, is his crazy ability to remember details, and his strict adherence to certain things. We went to Texas last year. So That Is What We Do. We go to Texas for Thanksgiving. The End. I've already been told that next year "On November 27 (the day we left this year- he doesn't get the fact that Thanksgiving isn't a set date each year like Christmas) we get on a Southwest airplane, sit on the right side, not the left, fly to Texas, drive a GMC Suburban, go to 2205 (their house number) and see Corrine and Rick and Kaeli and Josh and Belle and Cody and Kylie and Callie (the dogs and cats are also listed) and go swimming and go on roller coasters."
Fortunately Corrine's family was totally happy (and available) for us to descend upon them, and we had just enough left over Southwest frequent flier miles to do so, so off to Texas we went.
Dinner was of course great. (sorry, not the best pictures)
Corrine is a great cook, and truthfully I felt a little useless in her kitchen, "What can I do?" "How can I help?" while she ran circles around me, and did most of the work herself. (She's an energizer bunny)
And we all had a great time. The kids all had fun, and it was so good to see them just enjoying being with their cousins. Christopher was in seventh heaven. He didn't get to swim, but he loves his cousins and spent time with them, and played with the dogs (he even brought his own tennis ball because he remembered they love to chase balls) and he tormented the cats and he especially loved being with his aunt Corrine. He adores her. Every time he'd see her, he'd hug her and say "Go Cougars!" (She's a rabid BYU fan.)
And he did get to go on his rollercoasters. I think that kid will be a total adrenaline junkie when he gets bigger. He wanted nothing to do with the little rides, it was all about the biggest and fastest for him.
He and I sat in the front car of one rollercoaster with "Two Loops". He'd squeal with delight and even raise his arms and had a big smile on his face the whole time, and we talked about "two loops" for a long time.
He was really mad they wouldn't let him go on "Superman". He was too little for that. It's one of those ones that goes straight up and then drops you. He totally pitched a fit.
That of course meant he wasn't going to be left out when the older kids went on the biggest and fastest rollercoaster in the park. Corrine and Zach and I opted to go get hot cocoa (we were cold and Zach is not the fan of rollercoasters that his siblings are) and find a tamer ride while all the teenagers and the dads and Christopher went on the big rollercoaster. Truthfully I worried that Christopher would hate it and it would be too much for him, but he totally loved it.
Total adrenaline junkie. Side note- he's already asking for a PARACHUTE for his birthday. Not the kind we all played with in PE when we were little (aka The Best Day of PE in the Whole Year). But the kind of parachute you use to jump out of airplanes with. In case you're wondering, in Despicable Me 2, one of the characters jumps out of an airplane. A commercial flight. He totally plans on doing that some day. I told him he has to be 18. He didn't like that. "Ummm. Maybe when I'm 10."
So yeah, this Thanksgiving was a good one. But I think any time you get to spend it with people you love is a good one.
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