Turns out early in the week I came down with a cold. It's actually pretty amazing with all of the traveling I've done during the Sabbatical that this was the very first time I'd been sick. However, Thanksgiving Day found me in in bed or on the couch at the Rectory. Alone.
First time in 61 years that I'd been alone on Thanksgiving. It was strange to look outside the window and see cars parked in front of neighbors' houses, people moving in and out with smiles and hugs and arms full of food, and to be inside still in my pajamas.
I'll be honest. I had a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself. I'll admit it. But then I got out the basket of cards written to me by members of St. Mary's and read their kind words and prayers. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, made the proper way browned in butter on top of the stove. Less you feel a bit sorry for me--a grilled cheese sandwich is one of my most favorite foods, especially when made with homemade bread (baked by me from a cookbook given to me by my wonderful daughter, who, by the way, is featured this month in the Ladies Home Journal) and cheese brought back from my trip to Iona.
I had cookies that same daughter had made for my birthday that I'd frozen away for a special occasion. I had an organic honeycrisp apple--perhaps the best apple God ever created. I had my drink of choice--sparkling water, and it all felt like a feast to me. I had phone calls from my son, my daughter, cousins in Virginia, a nephew in Brooklyn, and my best friend. I knitted. I watched dvds. It wasn't the Thanksgiving I'd wanted to have, but it was definitely a day that was easy for me to give thanks.
To top the day off, a friend sent me a Thanksgiving letter written by the Bishop of Atlanta--and his words of wisdom are worth sharing with any of you who have muddled through to this point.
The Right Rev. Rob Wright wrote:
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