Everyone is all hyper right now on social media over people surpassing Thanksgiving and talking about Christmas. Almost everything on my personal timeline is people complaining about other people giving up on the poor turkey.
Let me be clear with you, I respect all of you for the way you celebrate. But please, be respectful to those who are excited about Christmas.
I personally am thrilled for Christmas, and I hate Thanksgiving for all it's worth. Before you go throwing your turkeys at me and cramming your canned cranberry sauce down my throat, hear me out! I don't just hate turkey-day for no good reason. In fact, I have several good reasons.
Last year as most of you know, my nana passed away from Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer. It was a devastating diagnosis, and it claimed her too fast.
On Thanksgiving last year (2014), she was taken by ambulance to first a local hospital, and then to Ruby Memorial Hospital at West Virginia University.
My family did not see her again until she was brought to Hospice.
Everyone had come in to visit her, but nobody gave two cents about visiting before unless she was doing something for them. Cooking, babysitting, giving money... But all of a sudden she was dying, and everyone felt obligated to come in and pay their respects to the walking dead.
They invaded my home.
They took my nana away from me.
They didn't even offer to take my family with them.
They recorded her dying words a week before she died.
I hate Thanksgiving because on my TimeHop all I'm reminded of was the night that we thought she was going to die. The Facebook posts for prayer, and the healing that never was.
Here, nearly a year later, I still don't feel like I've properly grieved her loss. My grades are high again because I feel like I owe it to her. My ACT score is high because the mention of Szechwan chicken in one of the passages reminded me to do my best. I'm back in the top 25% of my class because that's where she always told me I belong.
Another reason that I hate Thanksgiving is because in 2013, my grandad was rushed to the hospital by ambulance also. Thank God that I'd been able to be around him as paramedics checked him, and he squeezed my hand and told me that he'd be okay.
Everyone had come to visit again, but my grandad was being treated more like a glorified babysitter. He told my mom and I, "I wish they'd just leave."
He passed away shortly after that, and broke all of our hearts.
My final reason for despising Thanksgiving is one that is less than these, but still makes my heart ache. Last year, we were supposed to spend Thanksgiving with my Grammy. She ended up being too busy for us, and denied all attempts at making plans. This is my first holiday season without her, and I can't say that I'm looking forward to it.
Anyways, now that you've set down your carving knives and whisks, I close with this.
Last year, my family cancelled Christmas. It was only through a miracle provided by a friend of my mom's that my brother and I got anything at all. Our presents were meaningful in a new way, but not being able to buy for my mom and dad upset my brother and I greatly.
This year, I intend to go all out. Instead of turkey on Thanksgiving, we're getting Chinese food and playing down the significance of the holiday. But for Christmas, I'm going to personally deck the halls like they've never been decked before. We are going to have at least two full-sized Christmas trees and then some. They'll be up before Thanksgiving, and not taken down until after New Years.
Next time you go to post about how you're sick of people skipping past Thanksgiving, hold your tongue and sing along with their November Christmas caroling.
Because let's be real here.
You have no idea what they've been though and why they feel the way that they do.
-Victoria Wickline
