Thanksgiving 2024 – Letting Go

As usual, I was thinking the other day about my life and what has occurred in the course of eighty-six years.  In that time, I’ve been allowed to enjoy a host of happiness.  And, of course, some sadness.

I’m learning how to let go of things that have occupied my being since I was a young child.  “Letting go” can be, in many ways, cathartic for most people.  Myself, included.

I can’t say that I remember a whole lot about being a child.  Maybe, that is good, because what I do remember isn’t always pleasant.  I’m sure there must have been pleasantness in my young life – I just don’t remember those times.  I often think that if I could just put those unpleasant memories in a balloon and let them float away, that would be best.  Now, I say, just stop remembering the unpleasant.  Remember the pleasant – no matter how few those times are that can be remembered.

As a teenager, my memories were of going to school, going to work at the library, and going home by eight in the evening and studying for the next day’s school work, finishing anything that I had not accomplished on the bus ride to work and home.  Sister Clara says that I was always reading, as well.  I do remember reading, but never know how much.  I think that of all of those activities during those years, the best was going to work at the library.  I loved library work; and I still do.  I suppose that’s why my personal library collection numbers somewhere between two and three thousand volumes.  And, our boss, Miss Knox, ran a library for a city’s population of about 180,000 souls with three adults and the rest of her staff of high school and college kids.  And, ran it well.

Miss Knox was an incredible mentor.  She and my high school librarian were important figures in my life at that time.  As I think about it, I now realize that my mother Hazel was also one of my mentors.  Without saying it, she taught her daughters to be strong, independent, and capable people.  She had had many disappointments in her life; yet, she instilled in the five of us the will and know-how to get things done.  Her influence is definitely a memory worth keeping.  Then, of course, at almost ninety, she left us.  Letting go of her influence was difficult, although we know we’re are stronger because of it.

At the time our mother passed, we still had most of our families intact.  For me, in subsequent years, I lost and had to let go of my husband, a daughter, parents-in-law, a beloved brother-in-law, sisters, neighbors – I could go on but won’t.  Letting go of these individuals is painful.  We all need to recover and continue living.

And, then, of course, there are the pets we have lost.  In most cases, they have also become family.  So, we release them because we know it is not kind to keep them alive and hurting just because we love them.

This week, I had to let another thing in my life go.  For more than thirty years (on and off), I have been an International Lion.  I became a Lion when I was the school superintendent in a small district on the Eastern Plains of my state.  As was generally the thing in those days, I was the only woman in the club.  When I left the school district to return to the university, I transferred to a club in a small town near the university, even becoming the president of that group.  But, due to extenuating circumstances, I was president at the time that the club disbanded.  There was a several year hiatus in my membership, until a friend invited me to become a member of my current club.  Now, several years later, I find it necessary to leave that club; again, what seems to be extenuating circumstances have caused my departure.  This “letting go” has been difficult for me, but as I said in my letter of resignation, I’m not willing to be a “half member,” any longer.  And, so, as much as I will miss this group, I have now let go.

We usually think of Thanksgiving as a time to be thankful for those things that we have been given.  Maybe, Thanksgiving is also a time to think it is time for letting go.  Sometimes, it seems that we need a thump on the head to realize we must continue our lives to do those gifts justice.  And, we should be grateful.

My hope and prayer for you is that you have a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving of 2024.

Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.