Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thankful...Happy Aussie Thanksgiving! X

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I’ve been surfing the web from Oz, checking in on my favorite blogs today. Most of them are from USA and almost all of them are talking about Thanksgiving and being thankful! I’m not an American, although I do feel a special affiliation with the Land of Liberty.


It’s been our home for the past ten years, and a lot happened during those years. Savannah spent her last months there….and Dempsey has blossomed into our precious girl in the days spent on their shores. So yes, America has been our glue some days, super glue,……that helped hold us together as a family, provided compassionate doctors and nurses we leaned on, and friends that were and will always be a huge factor in  surviving my grief. And when we did come unstuck, it was the people that were with us, in the grand ol US of A that were like thick mortar, keeping us cemented through some of the hardest days I’ve faced.



I’ll always feel like an adopted daughter of America….even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia.   I can’t relate to how special a day on the calendar it is to Americans! I can however, relate to how some people would’ve felt yesterday with empty chairs at their table that should’ve been filled with loved ones who have died.


We did enjoy one Thanksgiving while Savannah was sick. Peter bought a fresh turkey and I spent most of the morning standing at the sink, peeling potatoes and carrots to roast. Dempsey was only sixteen months old and we didn’t know it then, but Savannah only had two months left with us. That Thanksgiving Day threw us a curve ball though, with me clumsily tripping over Peter’s tool box with Ugg boots on….breaking my right leg in three places!



Needless to say, the turkey went uneaten and I spent the rest of the day in the ER, trying to escape back home to Savannah who was on hourly med’s and didn’t understand why some burly men in paramedic uniforms had kidnapped her Mummy on a steel gurney.



                       Savannah a few weeks before she died...I still had my plaster cast on....


However, camouflaged in the heavy plaster cast that stretched from my toes to my thigh, was a blessing that I couldn’t see that day…….



A friend pointed out that ‘maybe’ the Universe had other plans for me – that I was meant to be incapacitated and the broken leg wasn’t really an obstacle after all but a gift…..and as hard as it was to realize back then, everything 'sometimes' does happen for a reason! You see, I couldn’t move, couldn’t leave the house for weeks, couldn’t do anything but lie next to Savannah on her hospital bed or on our couch beside her. It turned out to be a very very special time during those final days of her short life. A coincidence?? I believe there’s no such thing.



For those last seven weeks I got to spend nothing but time with her….because of my broken leg. ….so when I think of Thanksgiving, I don’t think of turkeys and steaming sweet apple pies, but of that special gift of precious time with our daughter.  We never thought she would almost not survive Christmas with us that year.



Yesterday I did think of others, of some families I know who would’ve been suffering, of a sweet teenager in Spain who is missing her Mom and of the many people who’ve visited here trying to find comfort on their journey of grief……….



                               My sister's twins Emerald, Charlotte, Demps and me tonight!


Today, I’m thankful for the little things….like my sister’s twins who are having a sleep over with us tonight, wrapped up in their jammies…..thankfully they are alive! I’m thankful for the succulent roast lamb dinner we devoured tonight…..when there are so many people starving. For the rain that pounded our roof a few hours ago, providing much needed water to the local dairy farms…..and for some memories that will always be mine, of a Thanksgiving we had with our girl, a broken leg and the precious gift of time we should all be conscious of and thankful for!


                                Our roast lamb dinner tonight I'm thankful for!




                                The heavy shower of rain we got today!




                   


Happy belated Thanksgiving...there's so so much to be thankful for! x

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7 comments:

  1. Hello Diane:-)

    Thanks a lot for thinking of me enough to mention me in this blog post! It means a lot! I'm glad you had a good Aussie Thanksgiving!

    My Thanksgiving was odd considering I am in Spain...it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Surprisingly, I felt I was more sad on black friday. I always used to get up really early with my mom, so it's hard to accept I can't physically go shopping with her anymore.

    I've been having a few good weeks. Last weekend, I went to Paris, which was really amazing.

    I hope you continue to have a great time in Australia!

    Liz:-)

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  2. Hi Elizabeth,

    I'm pleased to hear you had a lovely trip to Paris you lucky girl! Sometimes its easier to be in a new place on special days!

    Yes, I was thinking of you and hoping you are doing ok. I'll keep you in my thoughts.... Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

    With love
    Diana x

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  3. Hello Diana.. visiting for the first time in an odd 'sort of'way. In trying to work out how to network my own blog I came across yours. There is so much I can relate to that I have 'signed up' as a follower.
    I lost both my Mother and my youngest son [24] within a month of each other. I too reside in Australia with a cornucopia of American friends. Cancer has 'robbed' me of the use of my dominant right hand/arm.
    You have a beautiful family.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Chez,

    Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, they mean a lot to know.

    After looking at your blog I can't believe the similarites...I'm sorry for the loss of your precious boy....its terribly hard I know. What I can't believe is that your son and my sister died in accidents only an hour away from each other. Coincidence, there's no such thing I think and I think maybe we were meant to meet on our blogs and provide some comfort to each other. So, I'll look forward to reading more of your journey.

    With love
    Diana x

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  5. THE GIRLS ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy for you!!!!!!

    Hugs,

    Sandra

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  6. Thanks Sandra. They are beautiful on the inside too. Demps is loving being around her cousins but misses your twins!

    Thanks for stopping by
    dee x

    ReplyDelete
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