In the past few weeks I have had a lot to share, but haven't had enough time to write my words down. I was busy preparing final details for the 22nd Annual Thanksgiving Buffet at the DECC, which was a free community event (check out the event here). I spent the day constantly on the move making sure that things were going smoothly, but I often looked around to really take in my surroundings.
There were so many families that received more holiday cheer in a few hours than they will all season. We had live entertainment all day that people were singing and dancing to. People could visit with and get their picture taken with Santa. There were free books for kids and also a bookmark making station. The Cider Man was there making apple cider for everyone, and most importantly there was a hot homemade Thanksgiving meal.
I have never spent Thanksgiving away from family, but working all day at the buffet made me realize that I was truly lucky knowing that I would see them at the end of the day. At one point I sat down and ate with the diners. I spoke to a man who had just lost his wife 5 days prior and didn't want to be alone so he came to eat with his neighbor. Looking at him you could see the sadness in his eyes, but I was so thankful he chose to be around people that day.
When I got home I was exhausted, but all day I had wanted to call Linda (I wrote about her is my previous post) so I found her number and dialed her up to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving. Our conversation was so different than I had expected. I thought I was doing a nice gesture, but I quickly found out her Thanksgiving meal had never been delivered to her. She was crying and upset and quietly on the other end of the line I was crying too. All happy feelings I had about the day were gone - I was officially distraught.
When I got off the phone with her my husband came in the room and asked what had happened. I could barely get enough words out to explain to him what had happened, but he got the point of it. It was decided that we needed to bring her Thanksgiving leftovers from my parents house. We packed up the turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato, and a roll. I then dug in our cupboards to find cranberry sauce, corn, and black olives - I then threw in a few extras like stew and hot chocolate.
I knocked on Linda's door and thankfully she answered! She invited me in and I showed her all the food I brought plus the FarmVille gift that I had gotten her. She wanted to show me her FarmVille farms and talked to me all about her tiny dog. I spent about a half hour with her and could tell that by the time I left she was feeling much better. All this was supposed to happen closer to Christmas, but it needed to be done that night.
Thursday night I was able to sleep so much better knowing that we had made the extra effort to make Linda's day better. Yesterday I was back at the DECC getting all the stuff that will be put in storage at CSS until next. I was walking through the large hall - most of the lights off, no signs of yesterday's event, and I stopped, smiled, and got a little teary eyed. I thought of all the children's artwork hanging on the walls, the beautifully decorated buffet table, and the thousands of people who didn't have to go hungry or be alone on this day. It will be a Thanksgiving I will never forget.
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