THE PERFECT THANKSGIVING

- Helena Osorio

Ari's Mom, aka Helena Osorio, best defines herself as the passionate #1 fan of, well, yes, Ari.  Since his birth in November of '07, Helena has turned all her energy, heart and efforts to being the best Mom she can be. That has meant numerous hours of research on how to teach him to fall asleep on his own, which stroller to buy, what early development classes to attend, and how to finally trust her instincts. In her "spare" time Helena works full time for JWT Advertising as a Broadcast Producer. She also keeps a blog, through which she shares her experiences as a new Mom. Helena lives in Miami, with Abraham her husband, Ari and their two dogs Mafaldo and Felipa. Helean is the mom behind HeleNation’s Megamama, one of the most popular Spanish language mom blogs on the Internet. You can visit her website at: Megamama.

I recently read “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, a book that has made me re-think and reassess “a couple” of things in my life.  Funny enough, I had the book close to me, when I first started thinking about writing this post…Aha! Isn’t that interesting? That is exactly what we do during Thanksgiving, we eat, we give thanks or pray (each in his/her own way), and we love. Or at least we share this evening with the people we love: our families and friends. Yes, sometimes we want the evening to be over before it has begun…but at the end of the day, it brings us all together and becomes part of our history.   

Personally, there is something magical about Thanksgiving…it might be the turkey, the reminiscing, or just the fact that throughout my life something has been constant. No matter what year, which country (the longest I’ve lived in one city has been 9 years), what house we were in, the fourth Thursday of November would have my Mom cooking a turkey and bringing out her finest china.  Even friends who did not know about Thanksgiving, or did not celebrate were invited to feast with us, and we would have a great time.

I grew up, moved out of my parents house, and called my Mom on Thanksgiving night. I was expecting she would be busy getting ready for dinner, but instead, both my parents were watching a movie, I was shocked by the idea they would NOT be having a Thanksgiving dinner that year.  They didn’t have it the next year either, or the one after that.  And then it hit me, they had been celebrating Thanksgiving for me! They had cooked, and set a table, and invited friends over, because they knew how special “Acción de Gracias” is for me. Wow!

Last year we had an early dinner, the baby was about three weeks old, and I was still trying to fit into my new “Mommy” role. It was good to have the whole family around me, but like most things around that time last year, it’s a blur.  So, this year, we will have our Thanksgiving, my husband, my son, and I along with my sister and some of her friends.  We will share a meal together, we will laugh, tell stories of past thanksgiving, our childhood, perhaps we might even compare “Mommy experiences”…but most of all, I know this year I will give thanks.

I will give thanks for being blessed with such a perfect being in my life, I will give thanks for his laughter and smiles, I will give thanks  for having made it through a tough year of adjustments with my husband, I will give thanks for having my sister close to me and coming closer together, I will give thanks for my Mother being cancer free another year, I will give thanks for every day and every little thing I take for granted, I will give thanks for the love my parents have for me and extend to my son, I will give thanks for  my writing, and last but not least, as I eat my turkey and my son has his “Squash’Em”, I will give thanks for the past, but mostly I will give thanks for the future…