Well, I survived our first "official" holiday apart. I don't really count the summer holidays as they don't have much ritual and sentimentality to them. Heck, he didn't get me anything for Mother's Day when we were "working on the marriage" so I didn't get him anything for Father's Day, either.
However, Thanksgiving is one that is full of ritual, habit and tradition. This year, the kids decided they wanted to make a "card" like last year, and have everyone sign it. We are going to put it in a Thanksgiving scrapbook and start collecting these cards each year. It will be fun to see how our guest list changes and how everyone's handwriting changes, too!
Thursday was actually not bad at all since my sister and her husband hosted this year. It was kind of nice not having to be in charge and telling everyone where to sit, where to put the potluck they brought, or any of the other obligations hosting puts upon you. While I did have some thoughts of the past, they did not invade my day. It was nice just to enjoy and help out where I could. There was also a lot less stress this year, being with just my family. It was a MUCH smaller group which made just moving around a lot simpler. No one had to leave to go anywhere else. We also had a LOT of food leftover this year! So, we went to my sister's on Friday for dinner to help eat the feast, round 2.
All in all, Thanksgiving Divorce-style isn't so bad. It's not what I had in mind when I married over 19 years ago, but then, life does change. Now, on to the Christmas changes. Because we are living with my parents, we do not have a place of our own to get out our beloved decorations. However, they have a little 3' tree on which we are going to put some of the kids' most cherished ornaments. They are also going to go through their ornament boxes soon to decide which ornaments they want to have at daddy's house and which stay with us.
This will be the hardest adjustment, I believe, but again, we will all survive the changes and even thrive in the new traditions we begin. We did keep one tradition going - the kids helped put up the tree. This one was MUCH easier, though! It's only about 7' tall, prelit and a lot skinnier so there was less work involved. They have also joined in the general decorating - they love the nutcracker collection!
I will post periodically and let you know about the changes the Advent/Christmas and New Year seasons bring!
May His light shine upon you all in this series of most thankful seasons!
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