Thanksgiving 2006

The above photo is of my son, Todd II, and me during our Thanksgiving celebration of 2006. We had many goodies on our humble table that sits in our minimized kitchen of our modest home...um...mansion. After all, how could any house that is situated along Pennsylvania Ave. be anything but a mansion? I digress. This was the first Thanksgiving that we had celebrated together in 10 years. What a shame. I was in the military all those years and had estranged my family with my absences. The last 12 years had been really rough. My son was seven years old when I was to go to work one day and not return for over 7 years. One can't imagine the sacrifice made in terms of missing those all to important bonding times, such as holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. Nobody can grasp the pain of separation that was forced upon us due to my service in the United States Navy. I'll never get those times back; and the loss is very much my own. So in a feeble attempt to at least give me son some pleasant memories to take into his adulthood, I prepared our Thanksgiving meal. We posed for this picture while my son was asking "Papa, when can we eat?" Oh, son...we have to say grace and thank God for all that we have. He was saying grace before I was ready. I wanted to stop him, but this was his day and he wanted to taste what the old man had cooked and baked. What did we have? The usual fare of: roasted turkey, whipped potatoes, sweet potato casserole, buttered green beans with ham, home made cranberry sauce, creamy turkey gravy, freshly baked buttermilk biscuits, plus beer for me and sparkling apple drink for him. Later we had the rest of the meal, which included: freshly brewed vanilla flavored coffee, pumpkin pie with vanilla bean ice cream topped with freshly whipped cream. Yes, a good meal indeed. We spent the day in grand style watching NFL Football (American style football) in front of our old television (1992 model-27 inch old school) on an even older davenport. Hell, we even went outside to the front yard to toss the pigskin during half-time. That is how Thanksgiving should be celebrated...together with ones family and enjoying the best that life can offer. Yes, even if for just one day each year. Alas, this special day won't make up for the lost time and opportunities. It doesn't make up for the pain, stress, depression, anxiety, and god knows what that my absence brought. Only time and a lot of counseling can do that...hopefully. What it did do is bring two strangers closer together. I love you Todd!