Wings Like Eagles: Thankful for the Healing Heart

I am pretty sure that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

When we lived in Nebraska we enjoyed having family come from out of state to celebrate this holiday with us every year. It was a fabulous tradition. They would bring the best ham, pecan pies, homemade cookies and beef jerkey in all of America, and I would make the rest of the Thanksgiving meal. Our holiday began when they pulled in--usually the day before the turkey went into the oven, and stretched well into the weekend. It was an annual highlight of our year.

As things would turn out, Thanksgiving would be our last happy memory as an in-tact family. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving I would discover that my husband of 18 years had been having an affair, and the kids and I would leave him two days later.

For years, I felt the blemish on this holiday from the remembered pain I associated with it. I wondered whether I would ever be able to retrieve the joy I once experienced, and seriously doubted I ever could.

Time doesn't change history, and time doesn't hold any magic healing pills, but when you pursue recovery aggressively, over the course of time you discover changes along the way.

I can sit here and see that last Thanksgiving in the Nebraska countryside, as if it was yesterday. I can feel the warmth of my country kitchen, the crisp, autumn air, I can see our Thanksgiving table set up through the center of the house so that we could fit everybody, and I can hear the laughter of my family. Those memories would cause tears for many years, but now they bring a smile.

Our life is so different now, but our life is so good.

I remarried. We live a life that has been devoted to getting healthy, being healthy, and staying healthy and it is a life that is reaping the benefits.

Our Thanksgiving looks like this now: Pack up the kids in the morning and head to my sister's house for dinner, dessert, and gingerbread house decorating. Then, we say our good-byes in the late afternoon, re-pack the kids and head to Hugo's parent's house for more dinner, more dessert, and more fun. It's like we get double the fun, double the food, and double the joy. I'd say we have made off pretty well.

This year the fun began yesterday. My dad brought my 6 year-old nephew Troy over to spend the night, and he took Abi back to my sister's house so that she could spend the night with my 13 year-old niece, Brienna. My mom made Thanksgiving pies with Abi, Brienna, and my nephew Elijah.

We have found joy in thanksgiving once again, and I have found yet something new for which I can be thankful. I am thankful for recovery, and for the hope of a new life on the other side of sorrow.

May this Thanksgiving bring you great joy, and new beginnings rich in a healthy outlook and lifestyle.