My last post was a bash on how Chicago has totally skipped over celebrating
Thanksgiving but I want to take part of that back by telling you my Thanksgiving
experience in Chicago although the Christmas decorations are still up and have now
multiplied since my last post. As mentioned before, Thanksgiving is a very special
holiday to me and perhaps in my top three favorite holidays (Christmas and my birthday
are up there too :) ) so when I found out that I wasn't going to be able to go home this
year for Thanksgiving I was bummed but also excited to spend the holiday with my
family and community here in Chicago, including my roommates and our neighbors.
A week before Thanksgiving Day, the Doulas at my Catholic Charities office hosted
a Thanksgiving dinner for all of their clients and their families to come and celebrate
together. Griffin was on Kairos that week but Molly and MC came to my office that night
to help me and the other staff serve the dinner. As we all gathered in the dining room,
one of the girls gave a wonderful blessing and Ms. Wilson, the Director of the Doula and
Teen Case Management programs, explained the activity for the night. She had set up
a Tree of Life and cut out a bunch of leaves for the girls. Each girl was given a leaf and
asked to write what they are thankful for. Then each girl stood up said what they wrote
and brought the leaf up to the tree and taped it on. Here are some of the responses
from the teen moms:
"Hi My name is _____ and I am thankful for my family."
"...I am thankful for my son."
"...I am thankful for life."
"...I am thankful to wake up every day."
"...I am thankful to find out today that I will be graduating on time."
"...I am thankful for my education and all the support I have in my life"
"...I am thankful for my daughter and the baby that is on the way."
"...I am thankful to be alive!"
With each of these responses, my smile grew bigger and bigger. Everyone in the room
was clapping and smiling knowing that even though these girls may not have planned
to get pregnant and be a mom at this age, they are thankful for the life they are living
now and the child they have. As this exercise went on, I looked around the room to see
the smiling and loud cheers of the Doulas and staff that supported these clients and
helped them to become the women and moms they are today. It was a pleasure for
my roommates and I to experience this exercise and be able to see the great work of
Catholic Charities. After all of the leaves were on the Tree of Life, my roommates, my
coworkers and I lined up behind the buffet table to serve out Thanksgiving dinner. It
was great to see how many people we fed and to be able to do some extra volunteering
during this great holiday. I really enjoyed serving and sharing a meal with my co-
workers and were glad that Molly and MC were able to experience this time at Catholic
Charities and its amazing staff.
As the dinner went on and as I drove home, I thought to myself, how can people that
are struggling always be so positive and thankful? I know this may seem like a silly question to ask because everyone deserves to be positive and thankful but I
cannot imagine the hardships these teen moms have gone through in the past
and maybe even in the future. My favorite part about this night was seeing how
blessed and happy the teen moms were. Maybe the best gift of teenage mothers
is their baby. Over the months I have worked as a Case Manager, I have met
moms of all ages and all of them love their children very much. Some are more
scared then others; some are a little depressed because of other things that are
going on in their lives but all of them love their babies and want to do everything
they can to give them a loving and beautiful life. After I came home and again
on Thanksgiving Day, I prayed for my clients and all of the single moms in the
Chicago area that they will always be safe and healthy no matter what life brings
them.
Thanksgiving Day for me was another great day in Chicago. Even though I didn’t
wake up to the smell of turkey cooking in the oven, I did get up and watch the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade with my roommates as I called and talked to my parents on
their way to New Jersey. I also did make ambrosia to bring with us to our Thanksgiving
dinner which everyone enjoyed. It was definitely a bittersweet day for all four of us at
times but we had each other and helped each other through the sad times. Molly and
I got to Skype with our families which were quite the situation to figure out but it was
great for all of us to meet and see our families over the internet. Even though it would
have been nice to be home, it was still a great day filled with food, laughs, love, and
family.
After watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade and Skyping with our families, JBird picked
us up and brought us to his brother Bob’s house who graciously welcomed us into their
house with his wife Carol and their son Bobby. All four of us, JBird and his son Paul
spent the day with their family lounging around the house, eating, drinking wine, and
watching football. It wasn’t the typical loud, Moretti/Burns family Thanksgiving but it
was very nice to be with family and share in their traditions. After dinner which included
delicious stuffing and turkey but no brussel sprouts or the other 10 sides Mom makes,
my roommates, Paul, and his cousin Bobby all took a nap beside the fire in their living
room which is a tradition I would like to start at our house Mom and Dad although our
couches are really comfy in the living room! After our cat nap, we enjoyed another
glass of wine, watched TV and went home to go to bed. It was sad not to be with the
family at Uncle David’s house but it was great to have a family Thanksgiving in Chicago
with our community and family here. The rest of the weekend included watching Elf,
relaxing, and going ice skating in Millenium Park which was a lot of fun. So the holidays
are here and I can’t wait to go home to see all my family and friends. Sorry Mom
and family that I wasn’t there for Thanksgiving but thank you to JBird and his family
for having us as part of their family for a great Thanksgiving meal and day with great
people.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to take time to thank God for
all of the wonderful people and things in your life this holiday season. My roommates
and I are truly blessed for all the amazing people and opportunities God has given us
and we thank Him every day for all He has done for us, all He is doing and all He will doing in the future.
Chicago fact: The game of softball originated in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day, 1887
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