Thanksgiving in London

Today is Thanksgiving. As I get ready to head to work, I take pleasure in reading everyone’s posts about the holiday – Macy’s Day Parade, the football, the food, the shopping….I got to thinking (a bit earlier this year) just how significant this time of the year is to us and reflecting on all that’s happened over the last year and what’s to come...

In one year (and a bit) you can make a bittersweet decision to change your life as you know it and embark on a great adventure. You can feel a plethora of emotions – anxiety, nerves, sadness as you say goodbye to your nearest and dearest including your beloved car, sheer excitement that you are following your dreams. You can discover that in pursuing your dream you’ll willingly do things that only a few weeks ago would be inconceivable - like getting up at the crack of dawn and traveling  2 + hours 1 way to work. You can reconnect with an old friend and dance to nursery rhymes with the next generation. You can get a bit tipse and debate the whims of life and the ever important bucket list with your cousins. You can have your runs high-jacked by small children and head to the playground. You can experience disappointment that you never see any of those people who were so keen for you to move to your new city. You can have a huge sense of relief to know that the people you will spend 40 hours a week with are some of the best nutters you’ve ever met. You can showcase your hidden DIY talents to stunned family members. You can find the perfect flat for yourself and bask in your great find especially when it’s in one of the worst cities for real-estate. You can further gloat when you successfully smuggle in your contraband cats and manage to hide them from several engineers and the building managers months later. You can travel home for the holidays & experience sheer bliss at hanging out with those you said 'see you soon' to a few months back & indulge in all the goodies you can’t get in your new city. You can go jet-skiing in Mexico on Christmas Day. You can miss home and all its comforts in a way that you never thought possible & question every decision you made about moving but when it’s time to say good-bye to home and head back to your new city, you can rest easy knowing  you made the right decision. You can laugh until you cry with your new friends, have a bit of banter with much loved comedians, throw stones into the sea with your baby cousin, discover your new city’s hidden secrets, raise a glass or two in a converted church, come face to face with ancient history, sample the Manischewitz & celebrate the best damn showgirl you’ve ever met, share your new city with visitors from home, learn to take the snarky comments about your home country in stride, fall in love for the second time in your life with the city you have wanted to visit for years & have the time of your life with one of your closest friends. A few short weeks later, you can have your heart broken as you watch that same city come under attack. You can say ‘mission accomplished’ after successfully pulling off a surprise visit home for an epic birthday.

In one year (and a bit) you can move to London and have an absolute whirlwind of a year. In one year (and a bit) your great adventure can come to a screeching halt and your life can irrevocably change.

1 month ago today I lost my Miss Kitte & Griffith, my flat, my possessions – pictures, jewelry, knickknacks, people’s carefully thought-out Christmas presents, my impressive magnet collection…. I lost my friend of 25 years – he came into my life during a time of crisis, traveled the world with me & left me during a time of crisis. He was a bit worn around the edges…to me he was just as pristine as the day he came into my world. His name was SnowFlake. 

Today is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the gift of life, my family and friends on both sides of the pond, the years I shared with Miss Kitte and Griffith, the opportunity to move to London, my community’s amazing show of support and my £10 faux Converse.  As we head into the holiday season, I look forward to celebrating the simple things in life and seeing what the next chapter of the great adventure holds. ShelleB may be down, but she’s back in the ring and ready for another swing & she wishes everyone back home a warm and wonderful Happy Thanksgiving !!!! =)