Thankful

Welp, there is nothing like a Thanksgiving post nearly a week late. I’ll just call myself a writer and say you can’t rush creativity. Right? Anyhow, talking to my mom tonight made me think again about what I am most thankful for this year. Not to trivialize things such as health, job security, amazing friends and a life without complaints but this year, like most, my family trumps all.

As we grow older choice, chance and circumstance begin to put distance between the people we’ve known all our lives. As we leave our hometowns to make new families we are given countless opportunities to reinvent ourselves. Hypothetically, I could be a totally different person with the friends I’ve made since moving to San Francisco than the person I was in college. And honestly there is something refreshing about a clean slate. That said, I like to think I’m pretty much the exact same person at home, at work, at play, with men, with women or with children – my eloquent use of F-bombs regardless of the company I keep will prove that. Nevertheless, this idea of a clean slate has been occupying my mind this week. It came about when I realized how uncanning my excitement is surrounding the holidays. Coming from Mrs. Claus herself it’s hard to imagine that my love of mulling spices, Christmas trees and N’Sync holiday jams could grow any deeper but I am really allowing myself to be engulfed by the cheer – especially this year.

This week I realized why I loved being home at Thanksgiving and why I am so excited to spend days at home this Christmas. Because as much as I am in love with the life I am building in San Francisco and the friends I’ve made here, I miss the people who knew me when I was young – who have known me through every stage of my life. There is no explaining to do. I don’t have to answer questions when I feel like being a loner for an entire weekend or why no matter how excited I am, I will always sound like Eeyore on the phone. I don’t need to explain why I am the way I am. They know. Similarly, I can’t get away with anything. They are the first people to remind me of my Chelsea Clinton years, how hairy my legs were before I started shaving or reenact the night I was sobbing on my aunt’s couch because my mom found out I had taken 5 shots of vodka on prom night.

As refreshing as it is to have a clean slate, it’s even more comforting to have people who appreciate how far you’ve come. I am eternally thankful for all the new additions to my life over the past two years, but this Thanksgiving I was reflecting on how lucky I am to be in the company of 20 of the best people I know – my family. Because when you have a family like mine it really makes everything else seem slightly less important.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.