So it’s Thanksgiving! Leroy’s started cooking his food, and it smells amazing! He’s a great cook! I was skeptical on his turkey the first year, because the only turkey I liked was my Papa’s. But let me tell you, that turkey was amazing! Last year I cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal for the first time. It was Tyler, his grandma and I, and I loved every second of it!
As much as I miss home and my family around the holidays, I realize that I have everything I could ever need right here at this kitchen table. Leroy’s cooking while we are sitting at the table talking, listening to music and enjoying each others company. I’m working on my blog, Tyler’s on the iPad doing whatever he is doing, Jordyn is working on her class, and Tracy is peeling sweet potatoes taking a break from her work. If you ever find yourself around the kitchen table with your family enjoying yourself, treasure those moments.
I would give anything to go back and be able to do this one more time and enjoy it with my entire family. However that is a distant dream that sadly won’t come true. I’ve learned to embrace what is going on currently and learn to live with it.
I got a call from my Papa to wish me a happy Thanksgiving and talk to him. He told me their plans for dinner and we talked about mine. I even got a brilliant idea to wake my mom up at 6:44 am her time. She however did NOT appreciate my brilliant idea. I told her to wake my dad and brother too since they have to get started on everything. She was NOT having it at all. I knew they were up pretty late the night before working on tamales for today. I ended up letting her go back to sleep but you bet I’m face timing them later to annoy them! It’s my job as a daughter and a sister being thousand of miles away!
I’ve been black Friday shopping twice before. This year I simply just don’t want to. I have some extra money I can go and spend and maybe buy a new kitchen appliance or anything else that is on sale that I want. However who wants to go and fight over material things when you can be at home enjoying time with your family or friends. Not me!
I’ve also worked 2 thanksgiving days when I was working at Meijer. And I hated it. But I also didn’t mind at the same time because during that time I didn’t have as much as a family system here. I had my ex’s family, but it was different than who I have now. And of course I will always be grateful who was there for me. And I will always love my ex’s mom! To this day we still communicate and it’s been 2 years. I honestly think retail stores should not be open on Thanksgiving. If they had to be, I think it should only be for a limited time since people will want to spend time with their friends or family. Of course emergency personnel has to work as well as medical personnel. And I give all the props to them for sacrificing their time away to help other people.
Thanksgiving is about being thankful. I’m extremely thankful for the wonderful people here in Indiana I get to call my family. This includes Tyler’s family, my best friends, and my co workers and bosses. I never would have imagined my life to be filled with so much love and joy because of the people in it. This will be my 3rd thanksgiving with Tyler and his family. Each one has been filled with love and delicious food and it has been amazing.
All in all, what I am thankful for this year is, my family, Tyler’s family, my job, surgery coming up, my health, emergency personnel working, and Tyler. I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving filled with love, delicious food, and joy! And if you’re going black Friday shopping this year for the deals, stay safe and have fun!
Thank you for reading! Enjoy ♥
-Iliana
Welcome to the ride of a lifetime 💛 