The car pulls away carrying the four Charleston Children. I
stand in the drive way a long time waving, and then just stand there. I guess I
just don’t know what to do. I finally turn around and find the football that
Noah hauled out of the garage after he figured out the garage opener. He and
Faith hauled out their summer toys for a bit, and then put everything back as
they found it…except the football.
Back in the house the breakfast dishes, along with empty
coffee cups, await me along with an entire house to put back together. But I
can’t seem to do it. I lock the doors and have a good cry.
The Indiana Thanksgiving was all that I hoped for including
the ceremony for Harley, my cat. Under a sky of floating planets, we said
goodbye as we sat knee to knee at my campfire. Everyone had a story and a
little speech…even the Littles. It was good for all of us to come together to
remember my lovely old cat. Later in the evening, Brianna could not go to sleep
because of her tears. I promised to get a grave marker, and that seemed to
appease her enough to fall asleep.
We baked cookies, played games, told stories, cooked (a lot
with Holly by my side), and just spent time being together. When they leave,
the quietness of this house is actually filled with the echoes of their voices,
and I know I have to move on. You know, put the house back together, open my
Airbnb back up, and maybe start on the Christmas decorations. It is still
comforting to see the orange candles on the table, and the Thanksgiving
decorations still in abundance throughout the house. The Littles placed Thanksgiving
window decorations all over my windows, and I think they still look just fine.
As a child growing up, we lived in the same town as both
sets of grandparents so we never spent a week or a month staying with them. I
wonder how that would have been? Would they have missed us as much as I miss
mine? I tell stories to Holly and Brianna about their grandparents…great grandparents…great,
great grandparents. I have stories to tell and they want to know them. They
want to know more about the farm life, and I tell them.
“On Thanksgiving we all had chores, well, we all had chores
every day. They boys gathered hickory nuts from the beautiful hickory tree, and
broke them apart with a hammer. I used those hickory nuts in the best cookies.
Their chores, besides taking care of their animals, was to bring in the
firewood and the woodstove wood for baking. Nothing ever tasted so good as an
apple pie out of the woodstove!” Well, that was just he beginning of the
stories they love to hear.
I keep up the tradition of chores. On the large chalkboard
in my dining room, I write the chore list every morning before they awake. I
have always done this and it is the first thing they do in the morning is to
look at it. They put a big checkmark by their chore when it is completed.
Kristin asked me one morning, “Do they really do all the chores every day?” I
smiled and nodded.
I still have the chore list on the board from Saturday. I
guess it is the last thing I will take care of by erasing it…then it will
officially be over.
December comes in this week with temperature in the 30’s
and a clear sky. The planets are so visible in the night sky this week. Step
outside after the early darkness descends upon us and look up. Saturn leads the
way, followed by the brilliant Jupiter and Mars. All are visible without a
telescope and so easy to find. I guess I could say that the campfire and the
planets will bring me back to where I need to be.
As I turn over the calendar, I will know I need to find the
perfect tree upon which to place my candles. I will take down the Autumn lights
of orange and replace with multi-colored lights. Wreaths will go up on the door
just as I place all the pumpkins into the mulch pile along with the corn
stalks.
The last to go will be to erase the chalkboard, and fill it
with my own chore list.
Farewell, Thanksgiving 2022. You were loved.
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