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Happy Thanksgiving
By Timothy A. Wilson | November 20, 2007
This Thursday is Thanksgiving. For many it’s a joyous time; when they get together with family and long time friends. Families will gather around the table and give thanks for what they have. After enjoying a fine meal, retire to watch football games.
This year Thanksgiving will not be a happy time for my family. My wife and I recently lost our son Derek in a terrible auto accident on the 21st of September. We had plans to spend Thanksgiving with him, his wife, and our granddaughter. Instead, his wife and our granddaughter will be with us and we will be going down to my sister-in-law for dinner. I have the right to reject this notion of giving thanks. We were dealt an unjust blow, but, I must be honest with myself, I do have much to be thankful for.
I am thankful that we had Derek with us for twenty-eight years. I remember the day he was born, the joy and happiness when we brought him home. I remember his first step, his first swing at a baseball and when he road his bike to school. I watched him fall and pick himself up always with the idea of getting better at what he did. I watched him accept that some things had to be skipped for another time, that others could be accomplished and the joy he showed in getting them done. I remember his highs and his lows. I remember the joy in his voice when he told us we were going to be grandparents and the concern when the baby came a month early and weighed only 2lbs and 10oz. The relief in his voice when the doctors told him she would be OK. Now a year later she is taking on the world the same way her father did with unbounded curiosity and determination.
Yes, this year’s Thanksgiving, (and many more to come) will be less joyous for me and my family and I would give anything to have my son back with us. I can try and put up a good front and pretend that we are ok but the truth is we’re not. But, there is one thing I do know, over time my family and I will be able to handle the hurt a little better than we are now. Over time, the pain will ease. I know that at some point it will get better. Logically, I understand this, emotionally it’s still too hard for me to handle.
I also know that even with the loss of our son; I do have something to be thankful for, our beautiful granddaughter, Patience. Our son lives through her; she is a joy and blessing to behold. I am thankful that she and her mother are with us. As we mourn our son, we have our daughter-in-law and granddaughter to be thankful for. And we most definitely are.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Topics: T.A. Wilson & Associates |
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