Thanksgiving Day

Had a nice Thanksgiving with Mama and Victoria. As usual, Mama made enough food to feed a Marine division. We all ate until we were stuffed. It's hard not to where Mama's cooking is concerned.

I'm not going to write much. I don't want to sit here in front of this computer when I could be hanging out with the family. And that's what it felt like with Victoria here. Somehow or another in the past year or so whenever Mama and I have gotten together for something, it's always felt to me like a couple of survivors splitting a can of Spam while sitting among the wreckage of their former lives. It didn't feel like that today. It felt like life. And belonging.

I think I've been wallowing in the bitterness of what happened to me for so long that I keep forgetting that I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a wonderful mother who thinks I can do no wrong and has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure I know that I'm loved. I have a wonderful woman in my life in Victoria, who wants me to create and to have a new, full life. I'm thankful that I've gotten to know her daughters, Katie and Michelle, who, while not knowing quite what to make of me, have accepted me, and who are wonderful people in their own right. I'm thankful for my extended family; all those aunts, uncles and cousins who have made my life so interesting and have provided such a hotbed of ideas for a would-be writer. I'm thankful that I have today, and the hope of tomorrow, and next week, and next year. A lot of people haven't made it this far.

Well, I'm going to go hang out with the family. I don't need to be sitting in front of a computer on Thanksgiving Day. I guess some habits die hard.