Yesterday we had a good family Thanksgiving. We did not do anything unique to remember Hannah. Before prayer, I reminded everyone that we all knew that Hannah was gone, and that we had no special memorial planned because it was hard enough already, so we didn’t need a constant visible reminder. I prayed before the meal, and got choked up, so I cut the prayer a bit short. Life is still that tight rope walk. There is heartache on each side, but if we stay perfectly in the middle, it’s better. The rest of the day went well. There were many stories with Hannah in them, yet we did not dwell too much on the realities of life without her. It was a good day. It was good that we got together, good that we all celebrated Thanksgiving as a family, and good that we remembered Hannah, but in a manner in which we could still enjoy the holiday and being together as a family.
This week is deer hunting season in Wisconsin. This morning, we will go hunting, shortly after sun-up. Hunting for a Christmas tree that is. We always joke that each year, “We shoot a nice Christmas tree.” We will see how that goes, but I expect it to be fine. Last year Hannah had to work, so her absence won’t be too abnormal. Bringing it home and decorating it could be a different story, but we will take things one at a time. In general, there are a lot of things that just really don’t seem to matter too much right now. There is a certain amount of coldness to the less important things of life. Despite this, we continue to go about this holiday season as normal, but also with the understanding that things could change at the last minute if necessary. We are not looking too far ahead, just living more day-to-day.
Today is known as “Black Friday”. Theoretically it’s a day on which many businesses go into the black, which means that they start making money in their overall annual accounting. For many Americans I suppose it is more of a “Red Friday”, where they overspend on Christmas gifts. We have never been caught up in the hype of this day, but if something that we need is really on sale, then we will take advantage of the opportunity. Heading into the Christmas season now, the focus shifts to the biggest holiday of the year. It is good to be in a country that has these “religious” holidays. Although commercialism attempts to take advantage of it, Christmas is the one day that we as a nation celebrate “Christ” publicly, to some extent. As we each head into this season, let’s remember to “Keep Christ in Christmas” and to take advantage of this time to share Him with others.
We are blessed.
Hannah Helps 