28/11/2025
No one prepares you for how hard Thanksgiving is after loss.
The memories show up before the guests do.
The silence hits different when the house starts filling up.
You’re trying to make a holiday for everyone else
while part of you wishes you could escape it.
You smile because you’re supposed to.
You laugh because you don’t want to ruin the moment.
And you hold back tears in the bathroom
because nobody really understands what today brings up for you.
Everyone gathers around a table.
But all you can see is the empty seat.
The missing voice.
The person who used to make this holiday feel whole.
Nobody talks about how grief doesn’t take the day off.
It just sits quietly next to the gratitude.
And even if this year is hard…
you’re allowed to feel it.
You’re allowed to miss them.
You’re allowed to carry them into today.
