Traditions

We used to do this.
We used to do that.
We used to do something else.

We did them, time after time.
They became our traditions.
Then, life happened.
This fell by the wayside,
And that could wait till tomorrow,
And then we just never did something else anymore.


When we were kids,
We had our "things",
Our patterns, our traditions.

I can remember thinking, "What's going to happen to us after Dad dies?"

Somehow, Mom was always the one who was ill, but that was my question anyways.

Then, when he passed away, in November, 20 years ago this year, we lived. We made do. We existed.

Our "traditions" were put to the side, because life wasn't so simple, so easy. I grew up in a short amount of time, from 14 to 40 in a heartbeat.

Someone told me today that he can't believe I am only 34... I act so much "older".

What does that mean, anyway?

If I add 20 years to the 40 that I became 20 years ago, then that'd be 60. Does that mean I act like a sixty year old?

I suppose, my "public" face probably does look like that. I find myself laughing and joking, when it's appropriate, and serious most of the rest of the time.

I have become interested lately in "reflections". I put up a post recently of the reflection of a day gone by, a sunset framed by the mirror of my car.

I sit in traffic, and see the reflection of light on the side of a passing truck, and it interests me - it's a different view of the world. I look in a mirror, and I don't really see me. I see a face, but whose face is it?

Really, really good friends can help you see those parts of yourself that the public does not see, those parts of yourself that you yourself often cannot, alone. I published this one, too.

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection. We should reflect back on the year just past, with its good times, and its bad times, and try to be thankful for all that we've been blessed with.

I think, I will give thanks for another year. It has been an imperfect year, where some things were bad, and some things were good, and I grew a year older, and I have my health, and my family, and my friends, and those things are worth giving thanks for.

And a hearty thank you to my reader(s) for listening to me ramble.

Have a wonderful Turkey Day.