I was seventeen when I discovered Thanksgiving-just as Columbus discovered America of course! I immediately fell in love...and in hate...with it. You see the love part was easy-I loved the food! The hate part...hmmm...bit more complicated....it always left me feeling like a social outcast....as if there was an underlying message that if I didn't belong to some picture perfect Billy-Cosby-Show type immediate family circle then I wasn't really privy to the celebrations..(pout..) made me feel like an impostor- regardless of whether I was participating in the feast or not. Grrr!! Thanksgiving over the years I found was not only gathering some heavy calories around my waist but also sneaking in some emotional luggage into me too! Then came the turning point a few years ago...my attitude! TA-DA!!!
So how was Thanksgiving 2013? When I realized I would be spending it alone....at first there was that oddly familiar build of anxiety...but I soon decided to put my new mottos to the test: 'the whole world is my backyard and everyone is a relative or a friend' -combined with 'we're never alone in any experience'- after all-right? Inspired-I now figured I must volunteer at DC Kitchen to cook for less fortunate amongst us...but of course I was too late...they were overbooked with volunteers...so naturally I decided I should then make it a fabulous celebratory experience instead....why of course! So I created an impromptu invite with an open guest list... consisting mainly of my new found friends that I'd met via my adventurous activities through out the year.
The goal was to find anyone without plans to come together for a hike and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a fancy-cozy restaurant. Lo-and-Behold! Next thing I know I landed up spending my day on a fantastic ten miles hike with over thirty sunny-happy-people and then post-hike sharing a fabulous dinner with a group of eleven relatively new friends who easily flowed into family status....just like that...by sharing stories, laughter and making connections over a mouth-watering spread of a traditional holiday meal....and the best part...no dishes, no cleaning up....just happy easy smiles all the way to the end of our day....from the wait staff to the crowded jovial oddly familial restaurant atmosphere...what a perfect holiday it turned out to be!
Proof of serendipity? At dinner we sat under an upside down XMas tree hanging from the ceiling...which gave me the biggest smile as I realiz
ed I did indeed have my Bill-Cosby-Show type family gathering after-all...I just needed to flip my perspective to get it right. Lol!
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Some more pictures from our hike and dinner-An Inspired Thanksgiving 2013:
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| Brrr....cold morning...but warm smiles starts the day |
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| WOW! The Great Falls Overlook! |
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| A shy friend poses for camera:-) |
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| We had the largest and loudest table in the crowded restaurant- and the ultra friendly and humorous wait-staff continued to give us the gift of a truly jovial familial atmosphere |
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| YUMMY!! Turkey dinner with all the fixings!!<3 I would've loved this even if I hadn't just completed a ten plus miles hike in the cold! YAY!! |
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Thanksgiving pumpkin pie!! Slurp!! Like falling in love all over again with the same person I guess!
AH!!!! LIFE IS GOOD!!! GRATEFUL!!! |
Proof of serendipity? At dinner we sat under an upside down XMas tree hanging from the ceiling...which gave me the biggest smile as I realized I did indeed have my Bill-Cosby-Show type family gathering after-all...I just needed to flip my perspective to get it right. Lol! 
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