Giving Thanks and Birthday Wishes

Today is Thanksgiving.

Today is also Kyle’s birthday. He’s 20.



It’s weird. It makes me feel old. But it is also weird because he isn’t here to spend it with us. As of today he has been on his mission for 163 days.

My parents are both having a hard time with him being gone. Equally a hard time I think, but my mom has a harder time hiding it than my dad does.

It is interesting to watch how anxious they get when he doesn’t email at his normal time, or how excited they get at a letter. Don’t get me wrong, I get excited too. I miss my brother more than I can put into words. But sometimes I wonder if they were this anxious about hearing from me when I was overseas. Kyle assures me they were, but he also acknowledges the differences.

I was always the free-spirited, extroverted child that wanted to…go…anywhere. I liked be home, but I liked not being home. I was flying cross country by myself to meet my dad in D.C. at age 10. I was always out with friends, hanging out at their houses or…anywhere really (those are stories for another time). And lets be honest, I have ALWAYS had a problem with curfew. When I went to college I moved an hour and a half away and then six hours and an entire state away.

Kyle was always more of a homebody, but definitely not an introvert. He loved having people around, but he liked to hang out at home. I remember coming home once to find about twenty boys downstairs playing Halo and eating way more pizza than humanly possible if you weren’t a growing teenage boy. He didn’t like to travel much and would just rather stay home and hang out, and when he did go out he was ALWAYS home on time. When Kyle went to college he moved out, but he only went twenty minutes away.

Because of this closeness, his bond with my parents, especially my mom, has always been a bit different than my bond with them. I know they love me, but they are more used to not seeing me than they are for my brother.

That is why I am thankful to be home for Thanksgiving…to be home with my family, celebrating family time for Kyle’s birthday. It is so hard to be separated like this, so I am trying to be around more for all of our sakes. I mean, we miss him, but he is having so much fun in Canada. He loves the people and the culture and the food (not so much the weather). You just can’t help but see the love and happiness radiating from all of his letters and emails (if that is even possible).

One of my greatest, in both physical size as well as measure; treasures has to be my family—immediate, extended and chosen. No matter our differences or the distance between us, they are one of the greatest blessings in my life. It is them that I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful day full of family, food, games and laughter. To me there really is no better way to spend the holiday season!!

Happy Birthday Kyle!!

And Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!