The times they are a-changin...

Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the US and that means I'll be with family, eating too much turkey and just having a good time in general. It's the usual way. Tradition.

Having said that, it has also been abundantly clear that my family traditions are changing forever this year. You see, my family has always thrived at this time of year. Beginning with Thanksgiving, these winter holidays - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years - have always been our greatest time of celebration. The highlight being our annual Christmas Eve get together at my mother's house. We would have traditional Polish food - kishka, kielbasa and the like - and we'd sing Christmas Carols and give each other gifts. Everyone would be there - all of the nieces, nephews, spouses and sometimes a stray friend or two. We'd cram ourselves into my mom's living room and it would be the best time of the year.

This year, my mother is not living at her house due to her age so we're not having it. She's living with my sister now and my sister always hosts an enormous Christmas Day dinner so to ask her to host Christmas Eve as well would be a little much. So this year, no get together, no carolling, no large crowd of family. In all of the changes that have happened this year, this, to me, is the most significant sign that our lives are and will be forever changed when my mother is gone.

I, for one, plan to cherish this Christmas. I know it may be my mother's last and I wish there was a way that I could give her the one last Christmas in her own home but I cannot. So I will hold on to what I do have - my mom at 93, my family - so close it's almost unnatural, my memories, and my dear husband, with whom I know we will make our own new traditions.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!