Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks for your blessings and we don’t think about it as a time of tragedy. But this year there will be many people that will be in the midst of or just getting beyond a tragedy. And they will have to decide if they will be celebrating Thanksgiving after tragedy.
So many things could happen to stop or delay your Thanksgiving celebration. A death in the family can cause you to cancel it for the year or postphone it a few days or weeks. Or maybe you will be having a small meal at your home. And other family members will do the same or gather with other friends and family.
If someone in the family is hospitalized or just released from the hospital it may cause you to change the plans.
A very unexpected tragedy could be the loss of the home where you gather due to flooding, a fire, or a hurricane.
Thanksgiving this year will be the first my husband and I have celebrated in the last two years. Two years ago I was recovering from surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor about two weeks prior. Last year my mother died a few weeks before Thanksgiving and we were not feeling up to it.
For the first time in many years, I have purchased a turkey. We switched Thanksgiving to my house five or six years ago, maybe even longer ago. But, my mom insisted on bringing the turkey. I had hoped to ask her if I could take over the turkey last year since her health was going downhill. But she died before I had a chance.
What to do when tragedy strikes
Hopefully you are never in a situation where you find yourself celebrating Thanksgiving (or Christmas) after a tragedy. Depending on the tragedy you face, here are some of the options that can be considered.
- You may need to switch locations
- Delaying Thanksgiving might be an option
- Cancel Thanksgiving if that seems to be the only option
- Do not forget that even though you have faced a tragedy, you still have so much to be thankful for.
- Depending how everyone that gathers at your house feels, and when the tragedy occured, maybe you will want to continue with your plans and have Thanksgiving together.
Giving thanks for your blessings
It can be harder to feel thankful when a tragedy has occured, but there is always something to be thankful for. Here is a list of things my family will be thankful for this year. Many of them may also be blessings that you have received this past year.
- We are thankful for the abundance of food with which we have been blessed.
- In the midst of tragedy, God never abandoned us.
- We are thankful for our health.
- We give thanks for the new babies that have been born into our family in the last few years.
- Our family is thankful we can worship God freely.
- We give thanks for our church family.
- Thank God, for the sunshine and rain, clouds and blue skies.
- We are thankful for our jobs.
- Our family remains thankful for the homes that we live in and feel safe in.
- We are thankful that God gave us our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother for 82 years.
Celebrating Thanksgiving after tragedy
This year the turkey will be prepared in the roaster that Mom had used as far back as I can remember. The roaster is mine now, so that I can continue on the Thanksgiving tradition. I am looking forward to gathering with our family this year. I have really missed it the last few years.
We will be missing some of our family this year as normal. Some of our group switch off years at our house and their in-law’s house. We will also be missing our mom. At this time I am expecting one of my sisters, two of Mom’s seven grandchildren and their spouses, and nine of Mom’s twenty-one great grandchildren. That’s a small size group for us, but it’s a great start for our family to celebrate Thanksgiving after two years of cancelling it. Next year, we may be able to have everyone here. That would be forty, plus a new baby that is due in May.
I pray that your Thanksgiving is never interrupted by tragedy. And if it is, I pray that despite the changes that have made your holiday, not so pleasant, you remember that God is always there to heal and comfort you.
Take the time to leave a comment below about what you are thankful for this year. May God bless your family. Happy Thanksgiving.
