My Drive To Breakfast On Thanksgiving Morning
Today I spent the American
Thanksgiving holiday in an unconventional manner. It was an amazingly beautiful day, as you
can see from the picture I’ve posted above, but it was neither a remarkable nor
unremarkable day. You see I recently lost
my father on 10/9/2015 and the pain is indescribable. My family fights over
anything, everything and nothing. It is tragic when the people who are supposed
to be the closest to you are the most distant at such a difficult time. I am very spiritual though and I believe that
God gives us pain to see what we will do with it. I accept my pain and know
that it is my moral responsibility to help others who are also in pain. The holidays are supposed to be enjoyable but
ironically the holidays are a time when many people feel the most sad and
empty. Not everyone has a loving family to be with or sometimes those we love
just cannot be with us. And the emptiness caused by the death of someone we
love is overwhelming, hard to understand and magnified during the holidays.
Two years ago I wrote a
beautiful posting on Thanksgiving Day. Here is an excerpt from that posting “I realized at that moment how blessed I truly am. I have food to eat
and water to drink. I have a home to live in, a warm bed to sleep
in and a car to drive. I have money to spend and a way to earn money. I can walk. I can see. And I have a
healthy functioning brain. I am disease free. And both of my
parents are alive. My list of blessings is long. I realize that
there are people who have no home, no food, no water, little or no money and no
opportunity to make money. Some people have cancer or other serious diseases. Some are suffering
in the hospital. Some are addicted to drugs. There are people
who are mentally disabled. And people who are experiencing deep physical or
emotional pain.” Little did I know when writing that
posting two years ago that one of my parents would not be alive on Thanksgiving
Day 2015. My father had a severe ischemic
stroke that changed the course of his life causing him to suffer in the hospital and to die too soon. It is mind blowing when I read my own words
about my blessing of having food and water to drink, having a healthy
functioning brain and being able to walk. I did not know while writing those
words that two years later my father would not have a healthy functioning
brain, would not be able to eat or drink, would not be able to walk, would have suffered in the hospital and that I would be the one in deep emotional pain. My father pleaded for water at the end of his life. He could not have any water because he could not swallow properly. It was gut wrenching. I will never be the same and I think of my father's agonizing condition literally every time I eat food and drink water.
So my message to you today is
to please understand
that at any moment your circumstances can change and every day is a day to be
thankful for your blessings. And if you are feeling pain, you are not alone. Give your pain a purpose. Use the experience that has caused you pain to help others in despair. God bless you.
