Thanksgiving retrospect

I fully intended to do a post last night but got waylaid. I thought that maybe the moment had gone, but did not want to be ungrateful, or for anyone to think that I've lived in Britain long enough to not care about turkeys and such anymore. Actually, to be honest, the latter might just be true...our "Thanksgiving Dinner" consisted of leftover roasted vegetable enchiladas from Agnes' baptism lunch, a creamy Brussels sprout and Romanesco dish and peas. I did make a pumpkin pie for dessert, but I made it out of sweet potatoes--my favourite fake of all time! :) I was actually quite pleased with myself that no animal had to die for my family last night. Call me sentimental, but I guess I don't always see the point, especially when roasted carrots taste so yummy. That, and my oven is too small to host a turkey!

So, I spent the day in what I consider a very appropriate manner for the occasion: I went to be pampered at a spa day for mothers whose children have been recently diagnosed with cancer, paid for by some businessmen of Aberdeen who donated money to Clic Sergeant (a children's cancer charity who also pay for the nurses who keep an eye on Adam at home).

The pampering, I was very thankful for that! The rich businessmen, very thankful for their generosity. And the other mothers: very thankful for their stories that helped put ours into perspective. Adam is doing really well when I place his journey next to some of the other kids' journeys. Many have spent months, yes months, in isolation. Many have been extremely sick during chemotherapy. Many have not been able to go to school. Many mothers are still struggling with the diagnosis a year on and worry every day about relapse. Many are also finished and we still have a long, long way to go.

I'm not saying I don't struggle, or worry though. Last night the reason I didn't post is because Adam spiked a temperature and I found myself too distracted to concentrate. Would we have to take him in? Should we go now, at 8pm, or wait for 2am when he spiked again? Does it count that they told us to call when it reached 38.5 and it was 38.4? In the end we put him to bed and his fever broke and he was fine all night, but I don't know if I'll ever get used to the feeling of impending doom all the time. I was also thankful, meeting the other mums, to see that I'm not the only one, and also to see that life goes on and it is still possible to have a nice lunch and massage and "forget" for a while.

But let me not forget to say Happy Thanksgiving all. Enjoy the blessings of whatever you have--health, wealth, physical strength to help others, the chance to listen to or comfort someone, children, a soft pillow, laughter, tears...it's all part of the journey.