Looking backward

So last night was a typical Christmas pageant practice -- lots of shuffling around, starting over, overdramatizing just to crack each other up, trying to remember to sing while also trying to remember our choreography, and just the general hijinks that are part of the pageant rehearsal experience. This time, though, instead of hanging around shooting the breeze for awhile or playing with the piglet (who has mysteriously been a no-show since the mad church pig chase....see previous post), we were corralled into the conference center to do our part in a video being prepared for church Sunday morning. I was asked the following questions: Can you share a special Thanksgiving memory? What are you thankful for? White or dark meat? That last question was the easiest to verbalize, for sure. (Dark meat, for those of you who wonder...I'm a leg woman! LOL) Of course, I did come up with an answer for the others, but I'm not the best at thinking on my feet, especially with a video camera staring me in the face and the goofy expressions of my entertaining new music minister distracting me. I awoke this morning with several answers which would have been so much better, naturally -- I mean, come on, I have ALOT of Thanksgiving memories to sift through by now, and mentally flipping through those files takes some time! Participating in the video, although it was mostly against my will and I wish I'd had more time to ponder my answers, did serve a purpose for me personally. It got my gears turning in a different direction. The holidays can get so crazy with all the planning that has to take place to pull them off! My mind, as usual, has been focused on such things as: When are we getting together with this side of the family? What about that side of the family? Do we do traditional turkey dinner or something different? What part of the meal am I going to provide? Who is coming into town? Where will they be staying? Which day should I get my cleaning done? What's the best strategy for getting IN and OUT of the grocery store in record time? This kind of thinking, although necessary, can just zap all the sweet anticipation out of any holiday family gathering! Can I get an "amen" from all you women out there? So to pause for a moment amidst all the list-making and mental somersaults to let my mind drift to Thanksgivings past has been therapeutic for me. Some memories have drifted up from my subconscious that have delighted me and made me smile. Some have had me shaking my head and laughing at something I thought I would always remember as disastrous. Others are bittersweet and bring with them a pang of homesickness, of longing for simpler times, of missing loved ones who no longer grace our lives with their presence. Don't get me wrong, I'm still planning -- just with one ear tuned to the heartbeat of holidays past, and with the expectancy of even more to treasure when all is said and done. How about you?