RiverBender Blog: I'm Thankful and Also Ready for Spring

This past weekend, everyone was out of the office for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving. And now that Turkey Day is over, winter is officially here, with plenty of snow and Christmas decorations around town to prove it.

How’d you spend your Thanksgiving? Mine was complicated this year. But I was still surrounded by love as I took my seat at the Thanksgiving table.

People who have chosen to care about me filled my cup — both literally and figuratively — as we watched the football game and chatted about our Christmas plans. It’s a blessing to have somewhere to spend the holidays. I was very lucky to have a place to go.

And there are other makeup plans in the works. Snow might have derailed the elaborate Friendsgiving my buddies and I had planned for Saturday, but we caught up over cups of coffee on Sunday. We have tentative plans for a Friendsmas celebration later this month, and, of course, New Year’s Eve, my favorite holiday of all.

My family and I didn’t sit around the fire singing Christmas carols this Thanksgiving, but God, am I lucky to have them in my corner. I can’t wait to see all of my family members soon and give them a big hug.

What a blessing, to be loved and to love.

If you’re reading this and you’re starting to feel like, “Okay, Sydney, that’s great for you and all, but I don’t have that” — I get that. I’m extremely fortunate to have people in my corner. For what it’s worth, I truly believe you will find your people, too, but I know it can be hard to see that in the moment.

The holidays can be complicated for a ton of unique, painful reasons. If you aren’t feeling quite so holly jolly, I understand. I’ve spent my share of winters hunkered down, plugging my ears against the Christmas music, counting down the days until spring.

I don’t have a magic answer to that problem. I do have my list of ways to combat the winter blues, but cups of warm tea don’t go too far in actually solving Seasonal Affective Disorder or grief or whatever very real and difficult things you might be experiencing this year.

Still, though, after ten-ish years of trudging my way through the holidays, I’m challenging myself to enjoy them this year as much as I can. That doesn’t take away the sadness that we all experience, both situationally or for a long time, for whatever reasons we might have. I have a very real melancholic streak running through me this time of year.

But maybe I can seek out the good. Maybe I can find something worth celebrating.

After all, there are a ton of good things out there. Look no further than the start of this blog post. I spent my Thanksgiving Day with people I care deeply about, who, I think, care about me, too. What a gift.

I don’t have a clean conclusion here. The winter will continue to be cold and dreary at times. The holidays will continue to be complicated at times. But those glimmers of good are there, too. I believe we can find them.

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