living in Canada

so, with the incredibly, unseasonably warm weather, we canadians will welcome thanksgiving weekend, Monday being the official holiday, and think about swimming over sweaters.  some areas of ontario are even breaking heat records.  must be a trickle down from tennessee ...

my in-laws will be relaxing on their deck, by the lake where they live, and we will be spending some saturday sweetness with my folks about an hour away from here.  the rest of the weekend will be for our family of four; time to catch up and slow down for a while.

we will have the stuffing and cranberries, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, apple pie and chicken ... yes, chicken.  I forgot to buy a turkey and have had, instead, a few chickens delivered by a friend and it just makes more sense.  this will be the first thanksgiving without extended family in a long, long time.

this year I am thankful not only for my dad, who will be baptized the first weekend in november (truly amazing that he is still here with us, sarcastic sense of humour and all), but also for my husband, who is the love of my life.

I wonder what it will be like when we are old 

and we paint

together

on Wednesdays

will we paint on Wednesdays?

and will our art belie our age?

or will I paint flowers and puppies

and children out skipping?

will I have my hair cut short

just because I am old?

Our children will come

and bring their children with them

and we'll tell the same stories

again and again

but no one will stop us -

no one will say anything

they'll just listen

and be thankful

that they have us at all

And after they've gone

we'll sit at the table

together

alone

wondering how we got to this place

thankful to be in this place

where you still call me beautiful

and I still call you strong

where hours slip slowly

and memories mark time.

kristina campbell, august 25, 2007, onfirepublications