Thanksgiving. Possibly the best American holiday. Disclaimer: I understand that the history of the holiday is complicated/prolematic. However, besides the post on Ferguson, this is not a political blog.
So I had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Thanksgiving meals. No grocery shopping this week!
First up: Friendsgiving last Friday with Katie and Maggie and 20 of their closest friends. Turkey, mash, stuffing, gravy, chocolate pretzels, pumpkin pie, apple pie. The food was SO good. And it was such fun. I pranced around in Katie's yellow hat and drank mulled cider (best. drink. ever) and stayed up till 3:30 having girl talks and drinking wine.
Next up: Gratitude Meal with the Womyn of Colo[u]r Collective. A subversive counter-Thanksgiving meal. Not a turkey in sight. So cool though, because we all sat and kakpraated over stuffed salmon. MMMMM-MMM-MMM.
Third? Thanksgiving lunch hosted by the Law Faculty for the international LLMs. Oh wow. The food. It was so good. The MASH! The GRAVY! The stuffing! I could have just eaten that all day. In fact, if someone was willing ot offer me one of those meals once a month, I would happily sell my soul and stay in the U.S. And the best part of Thanksgiving is that apple pie seems to be a core component. Those of you who know me well will know just how much I LOVE apple pie. LOVE IT.
Finally, Thanksgiving leftovers with Tom and K in D.C. That's right, I finally hopped a plane and flew to the East Coast and saw friends who knew me before L.A.! It is SO nice being with old friends. It's like a tiny piece of home, right here in the States. I can't describe how happy I was to see tall, redhaired Tom at the airport (oh to be greeted at an airport! Such a wonderful, underrated thing!) We hopped in the car and blitzed through all our news and laughed hysterically until we got to town and just, you know, drove past the WHITE HOUSE. Casual. And then I was welcomed by K, in their lovely, warm home (Washington is FRESH. It was -1 when I arrived), and whisked off for a stroll around Capitol Hill. Guys. I saw the Supreme Court. It was in the dark, and I'll see it again, hopefully tomorrow, but EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Sorry, nerd alert.
We stayed up late, ate Thanksgiving food - K makes the BEST apple pie I have EVER had - played cards against humanity, drank bourbon had a thirty second dance party (just for you, B), flossed our teeth as a group activity, and went to bed. Happy. I'm just so happy.
Anyway, one of the points of Thanksgiving is to give thanks, so here are the list of things I'm grateful for:
1. My family. Their love and support. My foundations.
2. My privilege. My education.
3. The brains in my head, that I love learning, the curiosity I do have, my enjoyment of reading and thinking, which I LOVE doing.
4. Freedom: from authoritarianism, debt, obligations, chains.
5. Friends, their beautiful diverse talents, thoughts, perspectives, stories, storytelling.
6. The capacity for self-sufficiency, albeit not always realised.
7. My capabilities. All of them.
8. Empathy. Mine, yours, everyone's. Compassion too.
9. That I am able to see things in grey, not only black and white, and my freedom to question: authority, arguments, points of view.
10. This scholarship for an LLM at the BEST law school, studying things I love. This opportunity. All of the wonderful opportunities I've been given.
11. The sunrises and trees and cows filled with ennui that I saw working in Limpopo.
12. Actually, my whole goddamn beautiful country, its complexities, its battles, its fury.
13. That I know mostly where I want to go.
14. Self-acceptance. Every piece of it, each bit hard-won.
15. That my mind and body work.
16. Every single person I come across, who teaches me something, sometimes without either of us realising.
17. The roof over my head, food in my fridge, clothes on my back.
18. Humour.
19. That I have so many things on this list and off it to be grateful for.
20. My luck.
21. Hope in the things unseen, and silver linings.
Lots of love. Thinking of all of you.
xx
Miss Lawyer
