This picture was taken just before Thanksgiving 2007. Dylan titled the picture “Risa&Me.” This would have been a selfie, before there was selfie.

Sometimes we would do things together as a family, and then afterwards say, “That was fun and different. We should do that again.” One such time was for Thanksgiving in 2007. Donna and I ran the 10k Dana Point Turkey Trot. Since the race started at 7:00am, we ignorantly decided to drive across Los Angeles and Orange County after work on the day before Thanksgiving to stay in a hotel close to the starting line. It took us over three hours to get there.

Donna and I got up and left for the race. Dylan and Marisa were left in the hotel room with clear instructions not to open the door for anybody. They locked the door from inside and we left a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. We were only gone for, at most, a couple hours, but Marisa still mentions how much they had fun in that room watching TV and being kids.

Later, we spent some time driving around town, trying find someplace to have Thanksgiving dinner. We didn’t really have a plan, and this was another reason we thought we would like do it again. Next time, we would have a little better plan. I don’t remember what we ended up eating for Thanksgiving that year, but it might have been pizza.

—-

We made it through Thanksgiving this year, as much as we really didn’t want to. We did something different again. Different for us, yet very traditional. We had a lot of family at our house. We had never done this before, but Donna and I thought it might it easier. I am pretty sure it did make it easier, and I am grateful that everybody came. I missed the competition with Dylan over the mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, this year I know there will be some leftover for me. Usually Dylan would finish them before I got a chance.

For quite a few years, we tried to take a moment to recognize what we were thankful for before we ate. Sometimes, we mostly joked around about it, but we always tried impress on Dylan and Marisa how very fortunate we have been. Most importantly, we told Dylan and Marisa how very thankful Donna and I were to have two beautiful, healthy and intelligent children. Now, I know that I can spin what has happened to Dylan in any number of ways to say something postive, but that doesn’t change my feeling like I have less to be thankful for this year.

Thank you to the family, including Thalia, for being there with us for Thanksgiving. You helped to make a difficult day less difficult.