This is my first diary, and I feel a bit self-conscious in writing it. It was over a year ago that iampunha and blackleatherrain, fellow Kossacks, managed a program called KINship: "Kossacks-in-Need." The idea was that Kossacks could write in about what they needed and KINship would try to solve these problems. Most Kossacks really needed money and jobs; we've all been through hard times. We're still going through them! So, we tried to help each other.
My request to KINship was a bit different, however: I wanted to spend Thanksgiving Day with a FAMILY. I had no one, and I couldn't bear being alone on a day that was so special to me and the family I used to have.
Kos and KINship fulfilled my need, and they did even MORE! Let me share with my fellow Kossacks exactly what happened.
It all started when I was a young girl (I'm an elderly Liberal Lass now!). I had a wonderful mother, father and younger sister. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas my poor mother would cook an enormous turkey dinner for the four of us, two great grandparents, four grandparents, and innumerable aunts, uncles and cousins. The aunts would argue with the uncles; the adults would insult each other; the children would scrap. My mom felt unappreciated, probably because she WAS.
So, at about the tender age of 8, I went to my mom and asked, "Couldn't we have just ONE Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with JUST the four of us?" She looked down in my face, smiled kindly, and answered, "No, Honey." I didn't understand. No, I didn't understand that AT ALL!
Then years started to fly by. The great grandparents died. A cousin was murdered. My dad's father passed away. Then all my uncles died, and all but one aunt died. My mom's dad passed away, too, and I was close to him. Then my grandmothers died.
In 2000 my dear father died; in 2001 my sister died. Last year I lost my wonderful mother. She was 90-years-old, and she was my best friend.
Now, finally, I...understand.
So, last Thanksgiving, when I saw the KINship Diary on Kos, I decided to ask for a Kossack family to spend Thanksgiving with. Money was no problem. I could easily provide the food. Cooking was a bit of a problem; I'm worse than Peggy Bundy in the kitchen!
KINship put me in contact with "Carol" (not her real name). Carol's family had been hit hard with the recession. They even had trouble furnishing the food for their Thanksgiving Dinner. So I provided Carol with a gift card to her favorite grocery store, and I spent my Thanksgiving with Carol and her family.
It's an understatement to say that KINship worked beautifully for me and for Carol. Over the past months we have become wonderful friends. Carol is a wonderful cook; she even LIKES it! Carol's family welcomes me warmly, and I feel like I actually BELONG. No one can take the place of my own family, but Carol and her family have almost become as a second family to me. There have been many more dinners, and Carol, her family and I have shared many things together.
I cannot thank Kos and KINship enough for what they did for me. I gained far more than just a Thanksgiving Dinner. I hope that iampunha and blackleatherrain see this diary and know that they did something great.