This past weekend was one of the most dreaded milestones in this grief journey. It was our Canadian Thanksgiving and for the past 20+ years it has also been the weekend for my family's annual Thanksgiving Reunion. But with Gary's death and another ongoing family crisis having devastated our family this past year, there is virtually no family left to reunion with. Very sad and painful, having been such a close-knit family. We are scattered & broken, but there is nothing we can do at this point in time except pray for healing and restoration.

So I was dreading this Thanksgiving (and still dreading Christmas), because it has traditionally been a very fun, loving, much-anticipated family-filled weekend for as long as any of us can remember. The drastic difference between this year and last year is stark and unbearable.

But thanks to my hubby's family, it ended up being a full and fun weekend anyway. My step-daughter and I took my granddaughter out for a day of lunch and shopping, then the whole family came for supper. We had such fun with our 10-month grandson here - he & I spent a lot of time sitting at the piano...I could feel the joy rippling through his body as he "played" - so much so that it rippled right into me too!

And today my best friend from Nova Scotia is coming to stay for a few days. So the Lord was very kind and caring to fill the weekend with so much activity and joy that I barely had time to think about what was missing. I'm very grateful that this long-dreaded hurdle is behind me.

As for Christmas, we've booked a Christmas cruise through the Panama Canal - hopefully that will also ease us through another very painful milestone.