Thanksgiving is probably my most favorite holiday. I enjoy how the entire holiday is focused on family, friends, and food rather than gifts. Wayne and I have hosted a Thanksgiving lunch for the Turley clan for the past 4 years. We really enjoy hosting. Some thought we were crazy for taking that on again this year with everything we have going on with Catherine. But we appreciated the distraction and the chance to feel normal this holiday.
This Thanksgiving was going to be extra special as this was when we planned to share our Catherine Cares idea with our families. We believed this would be a neat way to kick off the holiday season- sharing some joyful news rather than focusing on all of the sadness.
After we finished lunch, we asked the Turley clan to come into the living room. We created a little Powerpoint presentation (we love Powerpoint presentations) with our beautiful Catherine Cares logo (created by our friends, Ken and Julia at Spry Digital) as well as a few notes describing our idea. This was displayed on our television. I almost made it through our presentation without shedding a tear… almost. When we finished, you could have heard a pin drop. The family was speechless. There were a few tears. Eventually, Steve broke the silence, “This is really great guys.” He gave me a big hug. The rest of the family followed suit.
Later that evening, my mom, dad, and sister came over for a visit. Our Bommarito Thanksgiving was on Friday this year. We were going to wait to share our Catherine Cares idea with the entire family on Friday, but based on the Turley clan’s reaction we couldn’t wait. Their reaction was the same- tears and joy.
Knowing our families were completely supportive and thrilled to see us channeling our grief in a positive way made this Thanksgiving extra special.
It was nice to bring our families some joy to what promises to be a rather emotional holiday season.