Thanksgiving

At 4 minutes after midnight I was sipping egg nog. I usually wait until after dinner but it was officially Thanksgiving Day and I deserved a treat.

For me, Thanksgiving has always been about watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while I assembled a lasagne in the kitchen. Then I had to find some oven real estate once I was done; my mother always got a head start on me and the turkey would have hours more to go. In recent years, I’ve gotten hooked on the Dog Show, so I watch that too. Once I wasn’t living at home anymore, Thanksgiving involved a bit more travel (Brooklyn to The Bronx, sometimes, all the way to New Jersey!) but the food and camaraderie was always there. The giving thanks part of the day also became more apparent the older I got.

Period. The Beginning.

There must be someway to celebrate the final menstrual cycle of my 20's. Some sort of ceremony or ritual involving meditation, the moon, belly dancing, donning a special menstrual garment and then burning or burying the blood-soaked shroud.

I believe there are phases in life. Entering your 30's is the beginning of a new phase. As a woman, there is no way to know which period will be your last. You're aware that you're going through menopause but only after the periods stop do you realize that last one was the last one.