Changin it UP for Thanksgiving

My dad passed away a year and a half ago. I knew the first Thanksgiving would be rough and sure enough my mom came to me and asked if we could just cancel Thanksgiving. She was tearful, she was tearful a lot, but this topic I could see was not going to work for her.

I replied, " I have been trying to cancel Thanksgiving for 30 years, it just isn t possible, but let me see what I can do." I have two daughters and they like Thanksgiving--at least the idea of it.

So last year I made a reservation at a hotel close to Union Square shopping and Dinner reservations at a French Restaurant. I made a little gift of a stone with a word and writing for each of the girls and placed it in a little jeweled pill box from China Town next to their place settings. The word represented what I would hope for each of them to focus on in the coming year.
Acknowledgement was for my mom to acknowledge the progress she was making in creating a new life and how she touched so many people. Joy was for my little one going into puberty. Respect was for my eldest one going into advertising, to respect the people she worked with and her self and her body. Trust I gave to myself, to trust someone to love me, and Love I gave to my boyfriend.

I wouldn't say that it was a huge success, it was a bit like a scene out of Gilmore Girls, but, they seemed to remember the highlights. We are repeating it this year and bringing a home made pie with us. So we didn't cancel the holiday we just made it our own special day.