I’m sitting on my couch (the new one!), watching the pre-parade line up on TV, trying to type up a gratitude post on Thanksgiving Day. Doesn’t seem like a difficult task and really…it isn’t. Today’s post is a very simple one. Today I am grateful for being able to safely gather with friends and family. I am thankful for new friends made this year. I am thankful for a bountiful table surrounded by love and laughter.

But I am also taking a moment to feel grief. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was always a tradition of my childhood. Watching that parade now instantly transports me back to my childhood home. I’m sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace and Dad is sitting in his beloved recliner with the day’s newspaper spread out on his lap. He’s not even reading it. Instead, the two of us are running commentary on the parade. Occasionally, Mom would yell at one of us from the kitchen to get up and do some chore. The job of the person who was spared from the chore was to yell out the float, balloon or band that was currently on the screen. You dropped whatever it was that you were doing if someone yelled out “You gotta see this one! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”. I can’t watch that parade today without missing that fireplace and the warmth of the fire Dad kept going.

I can’t watch that parade today without missing my Dad.

The holiday season is bittersweet. I am thankful for the bitter parts and the sweet parts.

I’m also really thankful for the new couch.