Happy Turkey Day! Or to be a tad more traditional, Happy Thanksgiving. I told you earlier today that we would talk more about Thanksgiving so here we go, lets have a chat. Thanksgiving is an American holiday that celebrates the survival of the Pilgrims during their transition into the New World (that is the United States, but don't worry about these details too much, you'll learn them all again in history class one day) and the help and support of the local Native Americans. I don't think I will go into too much detail beyond that other than to make sure you know that today, more than anything else, is a day to be thankful for the blessings in our life.
So having said that, today was a very very difficult day for your mommy and daddy, but a little game helped to get us through. You see Thanksgiving is one of your mommy and daddy's favorite holidays for lots of reasons. We love the food and the football and the family but we also love the act of cooking the food and watching the football with our family. We love to make things that make people smile and taste the love in the food we all make. As much as we love the dinner table on Thanksgiving, I think we love the kitchen even more.
But today we had neither of those, today we faced a Thanksgiving unlike any that either of us has experienced before and it was tough. Today we didn't get to cook or spend hours in the kitchen tasting and talking. We didn't get to sit down to chow on our favorite foods and we didn't get to (perhaps daddy is the only one who would think of this one) clean up afterwards. Today we spent a lot of time thinking about these things we didn't get to do and those thoughts made us sad at times so we created a game. That game was simple, every time a sad thought about the things we didn't get to do we thought about something we were thankful for.
Here are some of the things we wanted to share with you from that game today:
We missed turkey - We are thankful for Ronald McDonald House
We missed our kitchen - We are so thankful for the people working the cafeteria at Children's
We missed our family - We are SO SO SO thankful for YOU
We missed stuffing - We are thankful for the wonderful nurses who took the day away from their families to take care of you
We missed our dogs - We are thankful for the family we have to take care of them and give them good homes
We missed our friends - We are SO thankful for Dr Morales, Dr Nelson, Dr Ileus, Dr Merino, Dr K (Catherine), Dr Cooper, Dr Connor, Ben, Chet, Sam, Tad, Will, Megan, Megan, Megan (yep there are at least three I know of), Mary, Francesca, Rhonda, Tiffany, Kate, Guy, Gina, Shawna, Rachel, Sheree, and all of the other people who I can't remember right now who have taken care of you while you have been here
We missed our family gathering - We are thankful for the ways we can all communicate and even though we don't get to see each other much we all can remain close
We missed our time relaxing together watching football - We are thankful for the time we got to spend playing with you today
We missed our couch - We are thankful for getting the chance to hold you tight close to us WITHOUT that breathing tube
These are just a few of the things we thought about but since I don't plan to write a book here I will just leave the rest to your imagination. You should know that both your mommy and I talked about how thankful we are for you at least a hundred times today. Your mommy and I don't need anything to have a happy Thanksgiving except each other and you. The turkey and stuffing, the football and beer, the sweet potato casserole and watergate salad, they all mean very little when they are compared to having you here with us and getting the chance to spend the day with you.
Now I know mommy has about a dozen outfits she has been waiting to put on you but she got a new one today that she just couldn't pass up...
So thank you to Valerie, Barry, Kyle, Ivy, Clayton, and Evelyn for this wonderful expression of our favorite holiday.
But there is one thing that daddy really just couldn't do without today, something that is so Thanksgiving that I couldn't end the day without it.... and that is Pecan Pie. I was lucky enough to find some left over at the Ronald McDonald House and I got to taste my Thanksgiving. It wasn't as good as Gigi's Derby pie (that one is like Pecan Pie on steroids) but it was good enough for this guy.
But now its bed time again, another day closing down. So as mommy and I lay here we are taking this time to say thank you for all the blessings in our life. On days like today it is so very easy to feel down in the dumps but when we think about our friends and our family and the crazy chain of events that brought us here now so you could get all of your doctors and nurses who take such good care of you we realize that we are truly blessed. We are lucky in a way that few people are and we are thankful for that, and most of all we are thankful for you Connor.
Mommy and daddy love you Connor.
- Daddy
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