Thanksgiving Day was a very good day. My little family of four spent our time smelling delicious food cooking in the kitchen, enjoying each other during a little craft time, and snuggled on the sofa watching movies. I ended the day by meeting one of my friends for our annual Black Friday shopping trip. We were entering what I felt was going to be the best holiday season we had spent together as a family.
The next day, things started to fall apart.
As I’ve mentioned, my grandfather called me the next night to let me know that my grandmother had passed away. She had been incredibly ill, so it was expected but surprisingly hard for me. Minutes before we laid her to rest, I looked at her and thought that as difficult as this was, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it’s been like for all of my friends who have had to bury their parents, and God forbid, their children.
Two weeks later, my family confronted that fear head on as one of my cousins died in a tragic accident while he was on a much anticipated vacation out of the country. I hadn’t actually seen him since we were kids since our family is so spread out, but here my family was burying a 30-year old son who had lost his life in a way that no one could have ever seen coming.
…
