Not your typical Thanksgiving…

By Caitlin Kelly

Hungry!

I’m typing this on my laptop, alone in bed.

My husband, a freelance photo editor, is working at The New York Times today, yesterday and tomorrow.

I can hear my neighbors below me and down the hall laughing and welcoming guests for today’s big celebration.

Tuesday and Thursday are my “fast days”, when I restrict my calorie consumption on those days to 750 calories, my goal to lose at least 30 pounds, ideally 45 or so. I’ve been doing this diligently since June and am seeing progress.

It’s hard, though. I just ate lunch and I’m still really hungry.

The sky outside our windows is a flat, leaden gray.

The town below our windows is eerily silent.

I see all my friends’ posts and photos on Facebook and Twitter, and I’m envying their feasts and fellowship.

But Jose and I are not close to our families; his lives far away from us and mine lives in Canada, which celebrates Thanksgiving there in early October.

So we’re usually invited to share it here with one of our friends and their family.

One year we went to an elegant restaurant instead.

Last year we spent this holiday at a friend’s home near D.C., a long, long table filled with delicious food and lots of her family.

She invited me back this year, but I decided to stay home…and good thing I did, as my right knee, (which is very damaged due to advanced osteoarthritis), collapsed on me on Sunday night, making it impossible to straighten my leg, the pain so intense I almost fainted and/or threw up.

Luckily, I saw my doctor Tuesday morning, who drained fluid from it and injected cortisone. I yelped!

Now I have a cold.

Awesome!

But I’m thankful for so much:

 

— A safe, warm, dry, bed and a cozy duvet

— The little radio that brings me the world and keeps me company

— My laptop!

— A hard-working healthy husband who is sustaining us through three freelance jobs

— Savings (so we don’t have to panic if I’m ill for a few days)

— Fresh food in the fridge, (which I’ll enjoy tomorrow)

— A gorgeous orange-cranberry bundt cake I made yesterday that turned out really well

— The insurance to be able to see a doctor quickly

— A doctor I know, like and trust

— A safe and reliable car to drive to the doctor

— A husband willing to drive me there (losing two days’ income and work to do so)

— Working Internet (hi there!)

— A working landline (spoke to a Toronto colleague today for 90 minutes about a possible project)

— Paid freelance employment for a new steady client

— General good health

— Dear friends, here in New York, in Toronto and around the world

—– The 16,300 followers of Broadside (thank you!)

—  A solid marriage of 16 years; we’re spending this Saturday night with a friend recently widowed after 60 years of marriage

 

Hoping all my American readers are enjoying a restful holiday with people they love!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!