Cait wasn’t sure what she was going to do about Thanksgiving this year. It would just be herself and Angie. For the first time, none of the kids would be home.
June was away at college and didn’t think she could make it home. Something about critical experiments for her thesis. Robbie was recovering from Covid and thought he would just take the day and rest. Angie’s daughter, Lena, was in a new relationship and said she wanted to spend the holiday with her boyfriend.
Cait supposed it was inevitable. Most couples, she figured, ended up on their own for some holidays as their children grew up. But somehow, she had thought it would be a few years yet. Sighing, she went back to browsing Thanksgiving recipes for two. It wasn’t inspiring her at all.
She had just given up and decided to take a walk to try to clear her negative mood when her cell rang.
“Hey, Mom.” Robbie’s usual greeting. Somehow, he always got it in before she could even say hello.
“Hey, Robbie,” Cait replied, happy to hear the sound of his voice. They spoke twice a week, but somehow it always seemed less. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m great. Seriously. For some reason, I woke up this morning and all the fatigue and dizziness are gone. I’ll be there for Thanksgiving on Monday.”
Cait’s heart leapt. Robbie would be with them. She’d still have to scale dinner down, but she could send leftovers home with him. “That’s great, honey. I’ll make sure to have both pumpkin and mincemeat pies for you.”
Cait had barely set foot out the door when Lena’s ringtone started to play. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket.
“Hi other Mom.” Cait could hear Lena’s smile. “Mom’s not answering her phone again.”
“She’s in a meeting; her phone’s on silent.”
“I should have figured,” Lena said, laughing. “Anyway, I’m calling to ask if I can bring Greg to Thanksgiving.”
Greg must be the new boyfriend. “Of course you can, sweetheart. We’re excited to meet him.”
“Great. I’ll bring a salad. And wine. It’s not Thanksgiving without the wine.”
Cait and Angie had plenty of wine in the house, but Lena always brought more to occasions. Cait was about to thank her when her phone vibrated in her hand. “Oh, it’s June. I’d better go. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Can you pick me up at the airport tomorrow?” were the first words out of June’s mouth.
“I thought you couldn’t come home.”
“I talked with one of my profs and she said the work will wait. She’s in town, so she’ll watch my experiments while I’m gone. She also said there was no way I should miss dinner with the fam.”
Cait felt like her heart might burst with the joy it could barely contain at the thought of all the kids home for the holiday. It suddenly occurred to her that she needed to go shopping. Thanksgiving was only two days away, and she had gone from trying to plan a meal for two to needing to prepare a real Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.
She abandoned her walk and jumped into the car. If she hit the grocery store early, she could have the pies in the oven by noon.
As I was creating images for Christmas, I realized I didn’t have any images—or stories—for Thanksgiving this year. So I set about rectifying both deficiencies. I’m coming up with some cute images for my shop.
It’s Thanksgiving in Canada on October 10th, so I’ve probably missed the boat to catch the Canadian crowd this year. Americans celebrate the holiday later, so maybe…
This story came about because I was thinking of the times when my older sons weren’t able to come for various holidays. Somehow it’s never the same without them. Do you make a big meal for Thanksgiving?
That was a great story! Close to my heart ❤️ However, if we are finally on the road by Thanksgiving-and I truly pray we are- they are on their own this year.
We have been working so hard to get our house sold and Dave retired so we can set out on our new adventure, so we are going as soon as humanly possible!
I hope you had a lovely holiday, I really appreciate this story 💞