Two and a half weeks ago, I got a call everyone hopes they never have to pick up. My mom called me to inform me our family home was on fire. A million thoughts went through my head at the time. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I checked to make sure the family and dog were out safe and then hung up the phone in disbelief. It was incredibly shocking news especially since I had just talked to my mom an hour earlier. It’s amazing what can happen in such a short amount of time.
I didn’t get to talk to my family again until ten o’clock the next morning. It was an extremely sleepless night for me. The news of the fire had spread quickly in my smallish home town. When I talked to my family the next morning, I couldn’t keep myself together. This was life changing news that I was not anticipating receiving. I had to keep reminding myself that the family was all right and that’s all that mattered. It’s great that the family was safe, but selfishly I wanted to know how the house and the contents were. It turns out that most everything was destroyed and it would take time to fix the house.
I went home the next day and saw the wreckage for myself. It was much easier to hold myself together when I was surrounded by my family. It felt good to be home even though it was after a tragedy. The support of the family and me helping my family made me feel much better about the situation. Even though we had a terrible situation on our hands, we still made time to laugh and have fun. Those five days are some of the best memories I have with my family even though we had just lost our home.
You may be wondering what this has to do with Thanksgiving. This year, I am most thankful my family is safe. I would never wish this on my worst enemy. Thinking back, if the situation was a bit different, I could have lost more than a house. I could have lost someone I love. We can replace the things in the house, but there would never ever be a replacement for any person in my family.
We may not have a house to cook Thanksgiving dinner in this year, but we will have each other. We may be stuck in a hotel and may be eating Thanksgiving in a restaurant or maybe even Chinese food. It doesn’t matter. This year, we will have each other to be thankful for and that’s enough for me.
This year, make sure you hug your loved ones a little bit harder. Make sure you tell them you love them because you never know what will happen tomorrow. Make sure to laugh until you cry because it is important to have fun in life. This year, make sure you’re with your loved ones on Thanksgiving. They don’t have to be immediate family. It can be a friendsgiving. Please just make sure you let the people you love know you do. Mom, Dad, Jordan and Tank I’m happy you’re all safe and I love all of you.
