I got married 23 years ago to a wonderful man who is still my husband. We have two great sons and I have spent every Thanksgiving weekend with him since then. Some years, we also had our special dinner at his mother’s home who lives just 2 hours away from our home.

For most of our married life we have had a heavy financial burden which most people refer to as a mortgage. Therefore, I was never able to travel to spend this holiday with my side of the family whom live in another state.

Likewise, most of the people on my side of the family also had big mortgages and were not able to visit me. My mother’s only income is Social Security. Therefore, the last time I saw my mother and sister was 5 years ago. I had also not seen my other sister for 10 years. Recently, this situation has changed as my husband and I finally paid off our mortgage debt.

So, this year, I woke up on Sunday the week before Thanksgiving and decided that it was time for a visit. I got on the Web to make my flight arrangements. I called my niece, whom recently moved back to the town where my mother and sisters live and asked her if she had room for one more person for Thanksgiving.

She asked me why and told me she was expected at my mother’s home for dinner at 2:00 PM. I told her that her schedule was perfect since my flight would arrive at 1:00 PM. She was very excited to hear the news and immediately offered her home as a place to stay. I quickly accepted and asked her not to reveal my plans as I wanted to be a surprise guest. She promised to keep my secret and to pick me up at the airport. So far, everything seemed to be going great and I felt so happy.

After I got off the phone, I started to tell my husband all about my new Thanksgiving plans. He was very shocked at first but finally stated that it was a great idea. He said that he would manage just fine along with my sons and that they would go to a cafeteria to eat dinner. Needless to say I felt very guilty at first but finally concluded that I deserved to spend this day with my mother and sisters for the first time in 23 years.

The day finally arrived. I got on two flights which went very smoothly and got there on time as scheduled. My niece picked me up at the airport and we went directly to my mother’s home. I had butterflies in my stomach and was kind of worried that my mom would have a heart attack upon seeing me since she is eighty plus years old.

When we got to the house, my niece told me that everything looked perfect as she noticed that both of my sister’s cars were in the driveway. She said for me to follow her so I could nonchalantly walk into the home right after her. I did exactly that. My niece had a key to my mother’s home so she knocked on the door and quickly let herself and her family in. I casually walked in right after them.

The first person to see me was my middle sister whom I last saw five years ago. She gasped as soon as she recognized me and then said,”oh my God”. This reaction then caused my youngest sister who I last saw 10 years ago, to check out what the fuss was about. She also had the same response.

My mother then walked into the room to find out what the commotion was about and suddenly noticed me. She started screaming with joy and had tears in her eyes. Wow, what an incredible moment this was in my life. Everyone was hugging and kissing me. The feeling I had was just wonderful and I truly felt blessed. It was just so great to see my family members again. My mom said, “it was the nicest Thanksgiving present she could ever get”.

I stayed in town until Sunday morning and then flew back to Fl. I had the most amazing time and I can hardly wait to do this again. Now that I no longer have a financial related excuse, I will be doing this more often. As a popular TV commercial implies, family memories are just priceless, for everything else there is MasterCard. Here are some pictures:

My Mom and I when I first got there.

My two sisters and I

My middle sister and my mom.

My family clan and I.

The women in my family clan and I.

The men in my family clan and I.

My nephew holding up my niece’s daughter

The fireworks during the Cleveland city Christmas parade.

Posing with my family members on the last night of my trip.

Epilogue:

Concerning the possibility of my mom having a heart attack, my nephew in law told me an amusing story. He related that when he first moved back into town, which was pretty recent, my mom invited him and his family to her house. She then picked up a Tae Bo exercise tape and asked my niece and nephew to participate with her in her exercise routine.

Thinking that my mom would only do ten minutes of the tape, my nephew in law and niece agreed to join in. Well, my niece was the first one to quit after only 20 minutes, my nephew in law was the next one to quit. To everyone’s shock and amazement, my mom completed the whole exercise routine. So, I guess I should not have worried and I am so happy to know that my mom is so physically fit.