Surely, we've all been there. Maybe someone you loved moved away, fell ill and couldn't participate, or passed away. Perhaps, you were the one that moved and couldn't return. Regardless, the first time alone is always the hardest.

I can remember the first Thanksgiving without my great-grandmother around. I can remember the last Thanksgiving with her. For some reason, we decided to hold it at her house that year. Honestly...I'm really glad we did. We didn't know that was going to be the last time that we were able to see her at a family Thanksgiving, but she passed 5 months later. She had cancer, she was in her 80's, and yet she was still a strong woman who kept a smile on her face. She still cooked a majority of the meal that we had, and what she didn't cook she either helped with or observed to make sure everything was the way that she wanted it for her Thanksgiving meal. It was a time of laughter, joy, and it was one of the only days in that year that my family was able to get together peacefully. I just wish that we'd known it would be her last one so that we could have spent more time over there than we did.

The first year without her was really weird. It was a mess of emotions, and it didn't feel right at all. It felt nearly empty as if someone forgot to set out something...When in reality, it was just because she wasn't there with us.

That first year at Thanksgiving without my great-grandmother, however, was the last Thanksgiving without my grandfather. My great-grandmother passed in April of 2014, whereas my grandfather passed in December of 2015. Their passings really hit my family hard, but what hit us harder was the first Thanksgiving that we didn't have either of them around.

We held Thanksgiving at my maternal grandmother's house that year - just as we do every year, now - and they were kind enough to invite my paternal grandmother so that she wouldn't be alone on Thanksgiving. It was an emotional time, and it was one of the only times that I can remember throughout my childhood where my grandparents seemed to get along as well as they did. By all means, they never hated each other or had any rivalry, but they never really talked to one another and my parents never had any family celebrations with both sets of my grandparents around. It was slightly awkward, but I can remember that it was peaceful and joyous nonetheless. It was weird not needing to drive to my paternal grandparents' house after being at my maternal grandparents' house all day, but now that I look back on it...I'm beginning to think that it was exactly what my family needed in order to help with our recovery from losing two people so quickly.

Life moves on with change, you can't have a good thing in life forever. The prettiest flowers are always picked first, and the most beautiful souls are gone too soon.