🍁A Dinner of Thanks 🍁

A short story of a family who have a lot to be thankful for…

Diana

Diana sits at the head of the table, her gaze wandering on each face smiling back at her with plates full of turkey, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. A gravy boat sat in the middle of the table, just waiting to be passed around and poured atop of the delicious food.

After giving thanks, she looks at her family and thinks of how grateful she is that her children flew across the country just to come home for Thanksgiving. John and his wife Mary each took a week off work to be here. Her daughter Kimberley works remotely so was able to bring her work with her.

Beside Kimberley sits her granddaughter, Quinn, whose father passed away when she was little from an overdose. Despite the hardships of being a single mother, Kimberley had done an incredible job at raising the kind-hearted little girl. Indeed, Diana had an appreciative heart for the incredible family she had.

On the opposite end of the long oak table was Diana’s husband Mason. He had stood by her through thick and thin. She will never forget that day, ten years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She thought her life was over, but Mason had never let her give up fighting. Because of his support, endless love, and strength, Diana was able to beat the cancer into remission. She would always be grateful for that.

In-between her husband and children are Diana’s best friend and her husband of twenty years, Lisa and Grant. They had helped her so much over the past two decades, babysitting her children whenever she needed to go for treatment, and taking her kids on holiday so she could rest and recuperate with Mason’s help. She would never be able to repay them for the true friendship they had shown her for so long.

Lisa

Lisa caught Diana’s eye and smiled back at her oldest friend as she put a helping of potatoes on her plate. She was so thankful that her friend had beaten breast cancer and was still in remission to this day. She would always feel a flicker of worry over Diana, but she was grateful that she had won her battle so far. She didn’t think she knew what she would do without her friend around to be a constant source of solace and steady advice.

She recalled ten years ago that one terrible year when she and Grant separated for a time after he slept with an old college friend. Lisa didn’t know if they would ever get through it or if she could even forgive him for his unfaithfulness. Diana had offered her a guest room to stay in for as long as she needed and a listening ear to lean on.

If she’d not been given the opportunity for space away from Grant, she might not have been able to find the peace she needed to get her thoughts together and find the forgiveness within her heart.

She was sure Diana was probably thinking something silly like she owed Lisa for all the times she’d cared for her children while she was fighting cancer, but Lisa never once felt like she was owed anything. Diana always repaid her friendship in kind and that was more than any woman could ever want.

John

As his wife passed him the gravy boat, John glanced around the table and felt a warm, rush of love for the people that surrounded him. Lisa and Grant were like the aunt and uncle that he’d never had and were always there to support him and Kimberley whenever they needed advice but were afraid to go to their parents.

As for Kimberley, she was the best sister a guy could ask for. She had introduced him to her friend Mary who then became his wife, she had helped plan their wedding and had been with Mary after she’d suffered a miscarriage while John was on a business trip the previous year. Kimberley’s support had meant the world to Mary.

His parents had been by her side too, taking the first flight from Mississippi to California that they could get. Mary, being an orphan, had allowed his mother to smother her in love, not just that of a mother-in-law but of an actual mother. She had cooked all her meals and made sure that she wasn’t left to her thoughts. She had been a godsend while he had been stuck waiting for the next flight home.

John looked at his dad and remembered the fatherly support he had always given to him and the invaluable snippets of advice over the years. If it wasn’t for his dad, John thought he might have fallen apart after the miscarriage. But with his dad lending him his unwavering strength, he was able to be the husband that Mary needed and deserved.

Kimberley

As she munched on a forkful of turkey and potato, Kimberley’s thoughts flickered to the people seated around the table. It had been difficult, raising Quinn all by herself after her boyfriend died from a fatal drug overdose. She hadn’t even known he was using; he’d managed to keep it a secret…well from her anyway. His parents had suspected but had not bothered to give her a heads-up.

Her parents had been pillars of support to her during that time. Quinn had only been a toddler, barely old enough to remember her father’s face, let alone what he was like. Kimberley had to adjust to single parenthood whilst making a career for herself as a freelance writer.

It had been a struggle in all honesty. She almost gave up her career and got a job as a full-time waitress but then her mother insisted that she keep going for her dreams and her parents forced her to accept their help with keeping a roof over her head going forward. At least until she was making a steady income.

Thanks to them and her brother’s support, Kimberley could now do the job she loved without worrying about finances. She had paid her parents back in full. And Quinn would get to see her mother living her best life as an example she could follow someday.

Grant

Grant watched as his wife laughed at something Diana said to her. With the corners of her eyes wrinkling as she giggled, he couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. He was truly thankful that she had forgiven him for his past mistakes. He knew he was a flawed man and his one impulsive indiscretion almost cost him everything, yet somehow this angel was able to find forgiveness in her heart for him.

After the irrevocable damage he’d almost caused to his marriage, Grant had made it his mission for the rest of his life to only bring tears of happiness to Lisa’s eyes, not heartbreak. He would show her every single day how grateful he was for her.

And he also felt true gratitude for the friendship Diana and Mason had shown to them during that difficult time, taking his wife in and giving her somewhere to go when she needed space.

He’s pulled from his poignant line of thinking when he feels Lisa grab his hand. Grant squeezes it, knowing he’ll never be anything less than grateful for this woman ever again.

Mason It’s Thanksgiving, Mason thought as he pushed his finished plate away and sat back in his seat, his belly full to bursting. He had many reasons to be thankful, he thought as he watched his wife begin to gather up everyone’s plates. He was thankful for such a kind and wonderful wife who made such amazing food each year. He was glad for his children who had grown into some excellent adults that he couldn’t be prouder of.

Mason stopped Diana before she could take his plate, kissing her knuckles before taking the dishes from her. He made her sit back down while he cleared the table, wanting to display his gratitude to the woman he’d married over twenty-nine years ago.

Mary

Before John, Mary never knew what family meant.

She was an orphan, raised in an orphanage, and bounced around the foster system. She had only ever known what it was to be unwanted and unloved. But then Mary went to college and befriended Kimberley, who through, she then met John who showed her what unconditional love looked like. And like a greedy hoarder, she couldn’t get enough.

When she met John’s parents, Mary never thought that Mason and Diana would adopt her as one of their own. She never realized how much she had longed for the warmth of a mother’s hug until Diana had embraced her for the first time, or how she had wished she’d had a father’s guiding hand until Mason gave her solid advice about a horrid boss she used to work for.

Last year her world came toppling down when she’d suffered a miscarriage. She’d never even known she was pregnant but when it happened, it felt like a major blow to her heart. She longed to have a family with John and that had been a dark period in her life that she wondered if she would ever recover from.

But with the love of John’s parents, now her parents too, she was able to heal and find peace for herself. Diana’s motherly love and Mason’s gentle fatherliness brought back the light of hope she had worried had been forever diminished. She was thankful for the family that she had found through her husband and would never take it for granted.

Quinn

For a homework assignment, Quinn had to list all the things she was thankful for this year. She had been mulling it over as she scoffed down her grandmother’s delicious Thanksgiving meal. As was usually the case for her, Quinn made a list in her head. She loved a good list. She supposed her first thankful item would be for lists. They always made things make more sense to her.

Anyway, her list of reasons to be grateful were: 1. For granny’s cooking 2. For Uncle John’s horrible dad jokes 3. For Grandpa’s fishing stories. They were more interesting than they sounded. 4. For her mom. She was the best mom in the world. 5. For Aunt Lisa’s delicious pecan pie. It was seriously the best pecan pie ever! 6. For her best friend Jodie. 7. For her art teacher, Mrs. Phillips, who never let her give up on herself even though she sucked at drawing, painting, and anything arty.

Later that same evening, Quinn would write all those things down in her notepad and think of her family with a smile.

I may not be American, so I don’t celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday myself but I do know what it is to be grateful to your family and that’s what this story is about at its heart.

Do you have people in your life you feel especially grateful to?

This was written as part of the Gratitude challenge for Soul Magazine.

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