A Thanksgiving Story

               I slowly rolled over in my small single bed, I lazily barely opened my eyes to peer over at the clock, they shot wide open to see it was 8:50 AM. The annual Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade was starting in ten minutes! I quickly jumped up out of bed, and started getting dressed, I was only 10 years old, and Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. I was in my upstairs bedroom, with the really low ceiling, but not too low for me. My room was decorated with WWE and dinosaur posters all over the walls, and video games and movies strewn about, but not a care in the world from me. Toys were set up on the floor, from last night’s grand adventure.

  I loved Thanksgiving, I got to see some of my extended family, eat a lot of turkey and watch the parade of course. I ran out of my bedroom and saw my brother’s room was empty, but of course I knew that, he was out hunting with dad like every Thanksgiving. I went downstairs and I already smelled fresh food smells coming from the kitchen, mom was already hard at work for dinner, which for some reason on holidays was always in the mid-afternoon. I walked out into the kitchen-dining room area and saw my older sister sitting at the table, reading some magazine for teens. Then I was greeted by my little buddy, Shelby. She was a fat little Chihuahua-terrier mix, and we were best friends. Our bigger black lab Barney also greeted me, and then of course the beagle Spike also had to say hello, as I pet my childhood best friends. Then Mom asked me to let them outside, in which I did, and they happily ran about in our huge neck of the woods, nestled on a small hill. It was that nice crisp autumn air; the sun was shining but you could sense winter was close by. The usual Thanksgiving weather I’ll always remember. I saw all our horses out in the pasture, they were running about today, I figured they must know its Thanksgiving too. I then remembered parade time. I jumped on our big couch, next to dad’s recliner, and turned on the parade. It’s funny because the parade is never really that exciting, the performances are lackluster, the musicals don’t interest me, and there are way too many commercials. But every single year since I can remember I have always watched it, as I was watching the then haired Matt lauer talk about the history of the parade, I heard the front door open. I heard my cousins were here! My two slightly younger cousins came in and started watching the parade with me, we always spent this holiday together. They loved coming up and hanging out and it was nice to see them. We would have a lot of fun from morning to night. The youngest of us three always giggling at everything, but nobody ever really knew why.

A few hours later, my older brother also came back from hunting, just in time to see Santa roll through I told him! My sister came in to see, and then we were greeted by my three other younger cousins, who were now seemingly right around my age. All of us sat in that living room, with the deer head mounts on the walls, and the pictures of us kids throughout the years. There wasn’t enough furniture, but we made do, if that meant sitting on the floor, well that was okay with us. As we all watched together, all of us in our innocence. Before all the heart-breaks and the heart-aches. Before all the work and paying the bills. Before life truly had brought us down, we had our innocence. Like all children though, we couldn’t wait to grow up and didn’t understand just how great that innocence was. We all watched Santa finish up the parade, that meant Christmas was next, which was also truly exciting. “Do you guys want to play school!?” my teenage sister said, we all responded with a no to that one. That was a great part about Thanksgiving weekend. No school!

It was a great feeling having absolutely nothing to do for four or five days straight, nothing but having fun. As an adult, you’d be lucky to get one day with no responsibilities looming over your head. But we had decided to go outside and use our imaginations. We would pretend we were gargoyles, or dinosaurs, we would build forts or snow huts if there was snow. We had no cell phones or Facebook to waste our time on. We didn’t spend our days in front of a computer, we used our actual minds to create something unreal. We were pretty weird at times, but looking back I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Then my grandma and grandpa on my mom’s side of the family pulled into the driveway. They gave us hugs and we helped them carry food inside. My grandpa grabbed my ear messing with me, telling me I was a piece of work. He loved to play around with us, we had a lot of fun together. Our parents then called for us to eat, it was Thanksgiving dinner time! Myself, and my younger cousins all sat at a smaller kids table. We always had our own little dinner together. My parents, older siblings, and aunts and uncles sat at the bigger dining room table just a room away. They all laughed and shared stories, the older guys guzzling beer, the older girls sipping their wine. Everyone at both tables chowing down on the yummy food. Although I was always a picky eater, I can’t deny how good some turkey and biscuits can be. The giggling cousin and myself challenged the youngest of us if he could eat so many biscuits and he did. He ate like 12 of them. We would go back to the big table for more food, it was always kind of cramped, we didn’t live in a mansion after all. But we didn’t care, it was a cozy festive feast.

After dinner, my dad and uncles, and my grandpa would watch the game on TV. Although my one uncle was the only one really into it. From time to time we would stop playing and sit and watch with them. My mother and the ladies usually sat at the table and drank some more wine, I never knew what they talked about honestly. But us kids would also stop in and talk with them too, we’d visit with grandma and make her laugh until she had tears in her eyes. I know sometimes they'd be discussing if they were going black Friday shopping the next day. But no one dreamed of leaving to do that on Thanksgiving night. Eventually it would be dessert time, which always consisted of different types of pie. My favorite being the chocolate one my mom makes every year still to this day, especially for me. There was always cool whip set out for whoever wanted a big slab of that on theirs. After we would retreat to my brother’s room to play video games once it was too cold and dark to play outside. It was always night time by now, us kids would start to get worn out from our exciting day, and eventually it’d be time for everyone to go home. We’d say goodbye to everyone, grandma and grandpa always giving hugs, as they all left family by family. No one ever knowing just how many more we would have just like that. But as life is, it must go on, eventually we grow up.

I open my eyes slowly and look around my bedroom in the two-bedroom apartment my girlfriend and I have. I sat up in the queen-sized bed and realized the dream I just had. I was taken back to a Thanksgiving that feels like a lifetime ago. I’m only 23 but it seems so far away, maybe it’s because the house I was in is now gone. Or maybe it’s just because Thanksgiving isn’t like that anymore.  I realize in my dream my youngest cousins were actually a lot younger in real life, and never got to fully have these moments with us. In reality the two youngest were around my age in the dream now. My grandpa had passed away a few years ago, and I missed spending the holidays with him. We no longer had Thanksgiving with the same people anymore, everyone had grown up and moved on. My older cousins were now adults, making their way in the world. My siblings had married and had children of their own now, I too had moved on and wasn’t the child I use to be. Everyone had Thanksgiving with their immediate families now. I walked out onto our balcony overseeing the field behind the building, I looked out into the cold brisk morning, and held my arms shivering, thinking of the way to realistic dream. I know in reality not every Thanksgiving went that smoothly, I’m sure there were arguments and sad faces. I’m sure amongst adults not everything was perfect, but as a kid it all seemed it. It seemed as long as you were with family all was right in the world.

But I sighed knowing that chapter of my life was closed, my childhood pets were gone, my childhood home was gone to a housefire years prior, and my innocence was truly gone. But with the sorrowful feelings I was having, one of my cats, one of my new best friends came to my aid and rubbed against my leg. I looked at him and he meowed at me, almost as if telling me all was going to be okay. I have always struggled with this change into adulthood, it has never come easy. Then my girlfriend came out and hugged me from behind, she was getting ready for present Thanksgiving Day, my other newest best friend of adult me. As she hugged me, a new feeling came over me, as I realized just because the past was well in the past, that doesn’t mean now is bad though. Surely I’ll cherish those memories but it was time for a new chapter. There was much to be thankful for now I couldn’t deny; my amazing girlfriend who has stood with me through thick and thin, my awesome cats, my jobs (I guess), the fact my immediate family was all still close and close by. I looked at the clock and realized if I hurried, I could still make it to my parents on time for the parade. I would still enjoy the parade to this day, only now I got to watch it with my nieces and nephews. A new generation in my family who had a lot of Thanksgivings a head of them. Who would need someone to help them have some fun on Thanksgiving Day, to eat turkey with, and play games. My parents, siblings, and newer members of the family would also still come and we still would have fun. Not all was lost, as I got ready to go celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Try to be thankful this Thanksgiving and every one to come, because you only get so many in a lifetime to spend with loved ones.