A Thanksgiving

To begin with, I just wasn’t sure how I was going to pull off thanksgiving this year. Or, anything that could be gay and focused on a single day of being up and happy.
There was such unhappiness hovering around my children and myself.
Not a thing I did or said seemed real. What was real was I wanted to scream and crawl into my husband’s arms with our children. I wanted to wake up and realize this was a bad dream.
I continued to wonder about the word forever. Will this be life forever?
I searched the clouds and imagined someone floating down and giving him, us another chance.
I said a prayer every day with the clouds.
Geoff, my husband had been physically hurt, very badly.
He wouldn’t be out of that place for weeks. The kids were like walking shadows.
They tell me he will probably never regain his memory. This I cannot believe.
Finally, they tell me he is going to live. “How,” I wonder?
His scratched face so yellow, laying on a pillow in this alien room they had put him in.
The few times I had been to visit, he didn’t know any of us.
During those times, he had opened his eyes, there was total incomprehension.
No connection to anyone, anything or even who he was.
Just one of those things I was told by the police and everyone. Wrong place at the wrong time.
Today is Thanksgiving. The kids and I decided to bring in his favorite side dishes:
Acorn squash loaded with butter, cinnamon and sprinkled with roasted, minced garlic; cranberry sauce, bright and tart, and on the sour side as he liked it.
Years ago, he and our kids had gone camping and created a recipe for mashed potatoes that to this day are the best!
We walked in the room, already two weeks had passed.
I have no idea how some folks would have felt on this day.
I felt emotionally shredded, but Geoff was alive. Their dad was still here.
We walked over to him, he turned and looked at me. He looked at our children.
I said, “Geoff?” He answered me, “Yes Diane.”
There was a long moment of feeling suspended, then tears, smiles and kisses.
The doctor speaking to me though I couldn’t hear him..
Thanksgiving that year was mixed with so much abundance, well-wishers and hugs from all over the place.
I took my usual walk outside for a minute and spoke to the clouds, thanking the spirit that lived in there. I broke down and let all my gratefulness come through my tears and the words I found I was muttering.
To this day, our book, “Recipes from the Woods,” is our gift to everyone in that hospital on the day of thanks and giving.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!