The Rose in My Life

This Thanksgiving, like all in the last three years, was different.  Since my Dad passed away in 2013, every Thanksgiving is spent in a new way.  It can be bittersweet, but this year, I reflected a lot on my Mom and past Thanksgivings with her.  

My Mom has been gone 15 years and some holidays I miss her more than others.  This year, I thought about her constantly during the Thanksgiving holiday.  Mainly because of one of the many things she taught me that applies so perfectly today.  One Thanksgiving years ago, we had come home from a day at my Granny's.  For my whole life, until my Granny went into a nursing home, we spent every holiday at her house. She was an amazing cook and I absolutely loved being at my Granny's.  She was a role model to me in being an independent woman.  I digress, but we came home and I had a message from a friend of mine.  This was pre-cell phone days, when you didn't get texts or voicemails and got messages when you returned home.  Ahh, the more relaxed life.  

My friend had spent the day with her family and had gotten home from her festivities and was home alone in her apartment.  I could tell she really didn't want to be alone and no more than I played her message, Mom said "Go on, spend the evening with her.  One day we'll be gone and you'll need to make your own memories on holidays."  That was just one way my Mom (and Dad) encouraged me to be independent.  So off I went.  

This year, one of my friends asked me if I had plans for Thanksgiving.  Now that my family is gone, I am blessed with lots of options and open invitations from so many friends that I always have a place to go.  I told her I had many plans but asked what was up.  Her family was going out of state for the holiday and she had to work the day after Thanksgiving, hence, she would be here alone.  I did some checking on some options for us and told her I was free and we'd go out for Thanksgiving.  I called one of my favorite places in the area - Claudia Sanders Dinner House - and confirmed their Thanksgiving buffet schedule, and when they predicted it to be the least busy.  We arrived about 4:30 and had a minimal 10 minute wait.  The food was amazing (as always) and made even better because they bring around hot yeast rolls about every 15 minutes.  Not good for the diet, but oh so good for the tummy!  It was a fun time with great food.

I thought much about that scene with my Mom I described earlier.  How years ago she taught me to make my own memories on holidays.  I couldn't stop thinking about that one moment that seemed insignificant at the time, but has taught me a lesson I'll never forget.  Oh how I wish she was here to tell her, "Mom you were so right!" And I'd share with her how my memory of that lesson is brighter today than it was then.  I'm oh so thankful for countless things, but this year, my Mom is at the top of the list.  She was the sweetest, most fragrant Rose in my life.