Happy Thanksgiving

Despite our sadness that we can no longer have Thanksgiving dinner with my mother, and that we are doomed to settle for inferior turkey (no matter how valiantly others will try, mom's will only get sweeter and juicier in our memories), there are many things we have to be thankful for. Some are private, some are not entirely relevant to this space, and some do not easily come to mind, but here are a few that I can list that relate directly to my mother, in no particular order:

1. That we had as many joyous times with mom as we did. Mom found great joy in having us around her at this time;
2. That no matter how sad we are that she is gone, mom had a wonderful life that was by no means short when measured with the yardsticks of experience, knowledge, accomplishments, and value to others;
3. That mom declined rapidly and died rather easily, all things considered. This could have been much worse;
4. That mom died where she wanted to;
5. That mom got to say the many goodbyes she did;
6. That mom loved her children and her grandchildren (biological or otherwise) very, very much; and, last but not least,
7. That she was our mother, sister, grandmother, friend, mentor, and/or combinations of the above.

Ok. I have shed enough tears writing this. Ragia is cooking up a storm, and she paid close attention to mom's turkey-cooking instructions, so I think I will be having the world's second-best turkey. Unless you are having dinner with us, you might just have to settle for third-best.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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P.S: Sarah responded to this post minutes after it was posted:

You know, it's days like this that my heart just fills with sadness in an unbelievable way. Reading this message also sent me into tears and I wish nothing more than to be with you all, mostly mom of course. Holidays are always hard on me when I am away from family but this year is incredibly painful. I hope the turkey is amazing and... all I can do is dream about mom's.

I know what you mean, Sarah. We all love you here.