Tomorrow is Thanksgivng. I can’t believe the holiday season is here again. It seems like just yesterday, we were celebrating the New Year. This time of year is usually a time when people sit and reminisce over holidays past, the good ole days. We think about all of our warm memories of times past and loved ones who are no longer with us to share those holidays. I think about my grandmother during the holiday season. She would start cooking a couple of days ahead. She would bake the best cakes you’ve ever tasted from scratch (4 layer german chocolate, coconut layer cake, chocolate cake, sour cream pound cake and about 4 sweet potatoe pies), a juicy turkey, ham and all the fixings. I would go to sleep with the smells of the kitchen and sound of the mixer as I drifted off to sleep. The next day, we could not wait to get a taste of the magic she created. All of the family would come together and eat this meal as a family. At the time, I guess I didn’t truly appreciate all of this. I took it for granted. Now that I am older and have a family of my own, I know how much work it is to plan and make a holiday meal. Now that all of the family is scattered about and aren’t close anymore, I so miss the good ole days and appreciate them now. I wish I could tell my grandma how much I loved those meals and appreciated all the work and love that went into them. And how I will never be able to put my foot into a Thanksgiving meal they was she did. Tomorrow I will have a nice time but I will think about those good ole days-the smells, the laughter, the love, the sound of Teddy Pendergrass on the old turntable. And I will think of grandma and I hope that somewhere, wherever she is, she will know.
Archive for November, 2008
In the movie Forrest Gump, there is a scene in the movie when Jenny dies and he goes to talk to her at her gravesite under this big tree (Every time I watch this scene, I boo hoo my eyes out). He talks to her about whether life is built upon one’s Destiny or if life is more random “like a box of chocolates you never know what you are gonna get”. Like Forrest says in the movie, I think it is a little of both. I believe in Destiny and this is based on my spiritual beliefs. To not believe that there is some purpose or higher meaning to life would just blow my mind and what would be the purpose then? But I also believe our lives are driven and directed by our choices(good or bad), the decisions we make and do not make, who we choose to love etc. Then there are things like Murphy’s Law, bad luck and times when Shit (just) Happens.
So, do you believe your Life is based on Destiny? The friends you have, your parents, your spouse, your children, do you believe they were “meant” to be in your life? Or do you believe that Life just is…?
