Posted on by gettingofftheinterstate

Over the River? Nope!

by Donna Poole

Our kids sang their Thanksgiving song for years when they were growing up, “Over the river and through the woods to Aunt Eve’s house we go!”

Those were the days, my friend. The guys borrowed tables and chairs from the church and set them up in Eve and Bruce’s basement. Women and girls crowded into the kitchen, laughing, talking, mashing potatoes, stirring gravy, and carrying a plethora of side dishes down the steep stairs to the basement where cousins played and waited for the feast to begin. Love, laughter, and gratitude filled the house. And then we quieted as Bruce prayed before we ate; God was with us, and we really thought those days would never end.

But end they did. Six years ago, Eve lost her battle with ovarian cancer and our hearts broke.

Thanksgiving moved to our home. I knew it would never be the same without Eve, and it wasn’t, but still, it was good to be together. The first year without Eve we shared some tears. There were tears too when a nephew lost his battle with cancer, but still, we found comfort, healing, and even joy in a day spent together thanking God for each other.

This year cancer came to visit me. I didn’t want to give up Thanksgiving, but I didn’t know how I could do it either. I shouldn’t have worried; our sweet daughter-in-law Mindy offered to host it. But then one family after another got sick and our beloved patriarch, Bruce, entered the hospital. For the first time in decades our family will not be going over the river and through the woods to gather anywhere to celebrate our blessings.

Our youngest daughter, Kimmee, lives with us, so she and her husband will celebrate Thanksgiving with John and me.

“Mom,” Kimmee said to me, “I’m sad. This is the first Thanksgiving of my life I won’t see Danny.”

I had a hard time holding back tears. Danny is our youngest son, and Mindy is his wife. We have four children, and they haven’t all been able to spend every Thanksgiving with us, but both Danny and Kimmee have. This is the first time since he was born that we won’t see Danny on Thanksgiving. It’s the first time since he married Mindy that we won’t see her. It’s the first time since their kids were born that we won’t see them! Megan, our oldest grandchild, has spent twenty-one Thanksgiving days with us.

Get a grip, Donna! Thanksgiving is not the time to whine and dine.

This year, the infamous 2020, forces me to dig deeper to find gratitude and joy. Since I started writing this article Bruce closed his eyes here and opened them in heaven. We cry because Bruce will never again join us at our Thanksgiving table or any table here, but we rejoice because we’ll join him where no shadow of sorrow will dim joy. Still, I’m tired of saying goodbye to people I love.

Since I started writing this our plans for Thanksgiving dinner for four evaporated. One of us has Covid-19 and pneumonia and is confined to his room, and the other three of us are in quarantine. We decided to wait for turkey and trimmings until we can sit together at a table.

Thanksgiving doesn’t look anything like I wanted it to. The year 2020 doesn’t look like anyone wanted it to!

So what now? Pity party time? Mindy sent me a great devotional today from proverbs31.org. In “Life is Too Short to Live Unhappy,” Tracie Miles wrote, “We can still make the intentional choice to be thankful for the life we have, even if it looks different than we want it to.”

I’m grateful for a loving, caring, wonderful family and church family. I’m grateful for a God who loves me and sent His Son to die for my sins, even my sin of silly ingratitude about one day that looks nothing like what I’d planned. I’m grateful for my husband of fifty-one years who has walked through fire and hasn’t lost his boyish sense of humor. I’m grateful for Kimmee who lives here and cooks and cleans and spoils me rotten. I’m grateful for the spectacular sunsets we’ve enjoyed this November. My gratitude list is endless!

And I’m grateful for you. Some of you started wandering these backroads with me from my first blog on November 3, 2019. We had no idea where those ramblings would take us, did we?  

So, for Thanksgiving 2020, let’s dig deeper. We’ll find gratitude and joy.

Thanksgiving 2021 will come. I’m planning on a full house. But for this year, I share with you something that made me laugh when I saw it on Facebook:

“As for me and my house we will stay where we at.”—1st Isolations 24:7

Photo Credit: Kimmee Kiefer

22 Replies to “Over the River? Nope!”

  2. Oh you’ve bared your heart & we think we’ll see if there’s a parade on TV….pick up what we see in the fridge & read – I’ve always got books I’m in the process of finishing. Actually Saturday I’ll be baking dinner rolls for my family’s thanksgiving at my brothers….have scheduled friends who are in the moving process next Wednesday & December 6 hosting our church family…..so with students off for December We’ve got thanksgiving free…..love your writing soooo much.

    1. Sharon, I hope you enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving! It sounds like you have a busy weekend ahead! God bless.

  3. I love you my sweet beautiful friend❤ I’m so grateful and thankful as I’m sitting here at the Illinois Cancer Care Center the day before Thanksgiving, that regardless I still have you 😘💝

    1. Maria, I love you and pray for you. Perhaps this time next year we can give thanks that cancer is in our rear view mirrors. God bless you.

  4. Thank you SO much for this piece, Donna! My husband and I will be spending our first Thanksgiving alone at home this year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday – it is very dear to me, and it is a big deal in our family. But Bethanie ended up having to work, so we decided to make this coming Saturday our Thanksgiving instead. Of course, I am thankful we will be together on Saturday, but not having anyone here with us tomorrow has made me emotional. As much as I have resolved to plan some special things for my husband tomorrow, and have determined to be thankful and claim the joy of the Lord, I find tears springing to my eyes over the silliest things. My personal struggles make me appreciate your statements about “digging deeper” in our pursuit of joy and peace all the more poignant. Thank you for the encouragement , for the reminder to go deep and grab hold of God’s countless blessings. God bless you, Donna. My prayers are with you.

    1. Thank you, Deborah! I hope you have a wonderful time with your daughter on Saturday God bless.

  5. You are a blessing, as always. Praying for quick recovery for one and protection and health for the rest. I wrote a note on John’s devotional but don’t see it. Just wanted to express our love and sympathy to you and all the family at Bruce’s homegoing. Stan started at BBC same year as Eve. Rest in His loving arms. Our love and prayers, always.

    1. Thank you, Karin! Now Eve and Bruce are both Home! God must have more work for the rest of us to do before He calls our names! We love you and Pastor.

  6. I wept with you over this account! Yes, we also miss the former celebrations. We certainly did not appreciate them as much as we should have! But now we are making new memories. Love you, my dear friend! Psalm 34

    1. Donna, I love you too and cherish the memories we share. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

  7. Thanks Donna. Yes, it was a strange Thanksgiving Day for the Whitmans too, with only Jonathan able to come with his family since we are not able to cross township lines in this worsening phase of the pandemic. We did thank God anyways. He has done so much for us! We love you and Jon and pray continually for God’s best in your lives of service for His glory. Hopefully by Christmas we’ll be able to get together as a family! God bless! Covid permitted hugs to you and John!

    1. Fred and Rachel,

      We love you and are so happy to share the walk Home with you. We know you’ll hear WELL DONE, and we’ll stand and cheer. Love you both.

  8. Beautiful, Donna! God has certainly given you a gift for writing, and used you to bless many!

  11. Donna,. Thank you for sharing. Family is so important. What a blessing to have a dear family! I know what you mean. Our family met but my Anna was sick and her family couldn’t be with us. God is good and still shows us blessings!³

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