A Last Minute Thanksgiving Family Get Together!

I'd like to start out by saying that I usually do not celebrate Thanksgiving! Although on the surface Thanksgiving appears to represent being thankful and grateful and joyous for everything we have in life, especially our loved ones, family and friends... Thanksgiving is also a day of mourning and protest as it commemorates the arrival of settlers in North America and the centuries of oppression and genocide that followed! So in reality, what are we really celebrating? But I'm not going to go into a thorough lecture right now about the wrongdoings of mankind... and why we shouldn't celebrate Thanksgiving! Instead I will just share with you how I spent my Thanksgiving holiday this year!

About a week before Thanksgiving I received a phone call from a close relative of mine who lives in New York. Let's call him Fred! He decided he would come to visit me... The week of Thanksgiving! I wasn't even aware that Thanksgiving was coming up! Fred reminded me! I was very surprised, as Fred usually spends all of his holidays with his wife (who I never got along with) and her family. But something changed this time. Fred had just found out that I inherited a 6 year old step daughter and he was very excited to meet her. I told Fred that he could come visit us, however, this time he would have to stay at a hotel because his bed was now being slept on by my step daughter. And her father now sleeps on the floor! It's a very packed apartment! I would also have to make arrangements for my guy friend (the child's father) to be somewhere else since Fred and my friend do not enjoy each other's company!

So all of a sudden it dawned on me how much preparation would be needed for this visit! There's always a certain level of stress involved when Fred visits me. Perhaps that's why I immediately developed a stye on my eye! It also didn't help that I was premenstrual. All of a sudden one of my business bank accounts goes into the negatives by the thousands, my vacuum breaks and a light bulb blows out as soon as I turn it on. Yup! That's the energy that Fred (and his wife) bring... Although, to be very honest, I was very happy that I would be seeing Fred and that he would finally meet my step daughter. Perhaps I might finally invoke some respect, and a little less judgement, from this close relative, since I've taken it upon myself to selflessly care for a 6 year old girl who just lost her mother to drugs a few months ago. Maybe I'm not such a bad person or such a loser after all?

So the day arrives, Wednesday, the day before thanksgiving, and I drive all the way to LAX airport to pick up Fred. He never did give me the airline or terminal number. He just said he would arrive by around 11am. Well, 11am passed... 11:30am passed... and I finally decided to do the unthinkable since the airport traffic was so bad. I paid to park at the airport... Finally around 12pm or so Fred arrived and I received a phone call! He was actually accompanied by his wife (the one I never got along with)... and I was expected to drive her to the railroad station so she could travel a few hours aways to spend Thanksgiving with her son. This was fine with me since we recently patched things up over email and finally seem to get along after years of tremendous bickering and turmoil.

I had parked in an airport parking lot that was a bit of a walk for all of us... since I didn't know which terminal they would be arriving at. I made a guess! And I didn't want to go to get the car and drive to them since the airport traffic was so incredibly heavy. It saved more time for all of us to just walk to the car together. It wasn't that terrible of a walk. Just a few minutes! I spent the entire car ride talking about my 6 year old step daughter. It was a long tedious trafficky ride... but I had taken my 2 drops of cbd oil that morning so I was fine... I could handle it! Although I was extremely hungry. I had only had a drink of irish sea moss, sulfur, orange juice, a blend of super food greens and a banana that morning.

We finally dropped off Fred's wife at the train station... Fred walked her in which took up a little more time... but that was okay! Then I went to make a bank deposit since paying for airport parking put my bank account into the negatives. Fred was going to pay the $16 for parking but he reached for his credit card too slowly. So I paid! Then we went to the marijuana store so Fred could buy some THC gummies. Then we went to pick up the vegan Thanksgiving meal that I paid $87 for from Sun Cafe. On the way to Sun Cafe I started to feel nauseous, light headed and very sad. I got quiet. Fred asked me what was wrong... but when I told him how I felt the energy in the car got even worse! I needed to eat but I was so low on cash... I was feeling bad. I had spent so much money on gas and food for Thanksgiving... I was down to barely anything... and I didn't want to ask Fred for any money since he already helps me financially. And I got the feeling that Fred didn't want to buy me any food since we had planned to go eat at his favorite restaurant/ bar for dinner... a restaurant that doesn't really have anything I can eat... except maybe a simple salad. Fred is aware of this... but doesn't seem to care about my dietary restrictions. We go to this bar every time he visits!

I ended up purchasing an expensive caesar salad from Sun Cafe to eat in the car while driving to pick up my step daughter since we were running out of time to get her, but then I decided to return the salad because the salad dressing was too spicy. To my dismay they had changed the salad dressing recipe. I was starving... but I was relieved that the money was put back on my card. And the energy in the car shifted a bit when Fred realized that I had the money to pay for my own salad and the Thanksgiving meal and that he didn't have to pay for any of it. He sat in the car the whole time and didn't even come into the restaurant with me. He even decided to call his wife when we got to the restaurant as if to ensure that he wouldn't be expected to pay for anything... the Thanksgiving meal or my emergency food! I think that's the energy I felt as we were driving to Sun Cafe. It was a negative energy... but understandable... since Fred already helps me enough financially. He shouldn't be expected to pay for anything else... Afterall, he is visiting me. He is my guest.

So we drove in traffic back to my apartment to put the Thanksgiving food in the fridge. Fred waited outside so he wouldn't have to see my close friend (my step daughter's father) at the apartment. I ate an apple and two dates. I felt much better. Then I packed a bunch of foods to take to the restaurant/ bar with me so I could add healthy stuff to the salad I planned to get. It was crunch time... We still had to drive to pick up my step daughter from school and then drive to the restaurant/ bar to eat dinner together. When I finally got back downstairs to Fred he was wondering what had taken me so long... I think I needed a little extra time to clear my energy... I also took 3 more drops of cbd oil! So we drove to pick up my step daughter... I had been driving almost 8 hours on and off at this point... and my gas tank was on empty! But I didn't want to ask Fred for gas money. He offered to pay for gas but I just didn't feel good about it so I ignored the empty gas tank and told him we could just get gas later on. I felt exhausted and sad... and not so great at this point in the visit!

Then something miraculous happened... My step daughter arrived on the scene and made everything better! The whole energy shifted! We had a wonderful time at the bar/ restaurant that night! And for the rest of the visit Fred had become extremely generous. He helped pay for gas, parking fees and even more food for Thanksgiving! He absolutely loved the Thanksgiving meal that I prepared (heated up for all of us). He also mentioned how comfortable my apartment is and how he loved the decor. He even decided to take a video of my apartment with his phone. And he sat/ lied down in the meditation pyramid for a little while as well. He didn't remember me ever having a meditation pyramid. I thought I had it the last time he visited? Anyway... The whole visit ended up being an amazing success! On Thanksgiving day, when my step daughter was busy playing at the park, I asked Fred what he thought of her. All he could say was that she is very lucky to have me in her life.

Overall, I am very grateful for the positive Thanksgiving visit I had with Fred and my step daughter! It started out a bit rough and bumpy and it ended with quite the bang as well! On Friday morning, accompanied by my 6 year old step daughter, I drove Fred to the airport. Long story short, he misread his plane ticket. Instead of the flight boarding at 10 something am, it was boarding at 10 something pm! Oy! Thank goodness I accidentally (or rather synchronistically) parked a bit far from his terminal. By the time we got back to the car I had received a phone call from Fred asking me to come pick him up at the terminal. He was very flustered and finally booked a 3:13pm train... and canceled his late night flight! We all spent a few extra hours together... and my step daughter even got to watch Fred put on a serious concert at the train station. He played the piano and sang... and I even sang two songs! Yes! Our train station has a public piano that anyone can play! We were having so much fun that Fred almost missed his train. We all had to run at the very last minute to catch it! Wow! What a close call!

In the end... after Fred left, I spent the whole weekend at home resting... And as I write this article I am still quite exhausted... and a little sad. My digestion is a bit affected as well! These visits can be very hard on me. They are very hard on my energy. I can feel everything and it affects me... But in the end, I think the positives did out way the negatives... It was all very challenging... But I think it was worth it! And it's good to know that I am finally back on good terms with Fred's wife as well! With this visit came a tremendous energy shift... A positive energy shift! Things can only get better from here! FYI All the money I spent on Thanksgiving is already returning to me multiplied! Wonderful! Thank You Universe, The Most High Divine Spirit, G-d! Thank you for all the blessings!

The End!

Jennie H is a Reiki Master Energy Healer, Co-Founder of Self Saviorz Society California Non-Profit 501(c)(3), Poet, Author and Entertainer with goals to help raise the vibration and consciousness of humanity!