I was entitled to a free turkey from Shoprite but I didn’t want to cook so I sent my friend, Leisha to deliver it to the Center for Food Action in Hackensack in plenty of time for the recipient to thaw it out and cook it for Thanksgiving. I then put in an order for a complete cooked turkey dinner at Shoprite, which included a 10 to 12 lb turkey, 3 lb. mashed potatoes, 2 lb. sweet potatoes, 1.75 lb. stuffing, 2 lb. turkey gravy and a 1.75 lb. green bean casserole, which was enough to feed 8 to 10 people. I enlisted Mrs. Smith to bake a huge pumpkin pie for us and when my son, Michael, picked up the food, I told him to get 2 cans of cranberry sauce and then we were all set.  

Turns out Michael was unable to pick up on the appointed date so I got a call from Shoprite telling me they were canceling my order. That was followed by another call from Shoprite apologizing and notifying me that the food was in the frozen food dept. and had been placed on hold for us. It seems that nothing goes smoothly for the Donohues. But I returned to my positive and thankful attitude, grateful that all these things were available to us at a cost of $69.99. 

We had a lot of leftovers from our Thanksgiving meal because my grandson, Ryan got invited to his girlfriend’s house for dinner and my daughter, Patricia is on a salt free diet so could not eat any of the dinner but she did indulge in some pumpkin pie.  

To escape from all the sad things that we were privy to on the news such as crooked politicians, and the uproar it caused, the very sad things that were happening in the world due to the war between the Palistinians and the Jews. And the conflicts that continue in this country. There was some joyfulness, however, in watching some that were captured, being reunited with their families.  

We have to look for the little bits of joy that gets mixed with the sadness. I have two friends of mine that are suffering from Alzheimers. They were both adamant, years ago, telling me to never try to patch things up  between them because neither was interested in reviving their friendship. But something funny happened; they both forgot what the original problem was and every single time they are thrown in a room together, they go out of their way to cross the room to speak to each other. I just love watching their interactions.  

Michael and I started watching Yellowstone to get a break from all the unfortunate things that happen on the news but that show often just adds to the discord. When the language or the events are depressing, I just say, time for me to go to bed, go for a walk, or read some back issues of the Democrat. I just have to sort through some things to find events or thoughts to be thankful for.