Charty's First Solo Thanksgiving: A Tale of Cleaning Gloves and Rum

Happy Thanksgiving peeps! I hope you’re all full of turkey and pie. I am currently drinking Kraken rum and eating pie out of the dish! And doing a lot of reflecting—I have so much to be grateful for. First, thank you to all my readers. Whether you’re a consistent reader, or just dropping by, this blog means so much to me, and I’m grateful you love it. I could go on for paragraphs about how lucky I am between my city, my family, home, friends, and more, but for now I’ll just say I am blessed with more than enough. And how fortunate I am to be able to say that.

I can’t believe it’s almost December and almost 2025. I find it so hard this time of year to be present and find myself needing to slow down. This year has been different for me, considering I was by myself on Thanksgiving. Yup! I had my hands shoved up a turkey while I ate everything in sight unsupervised... (Kidding you guys know I can’t cook a turkey) Usually, I’m in Florida with my family tipping back hurricanes on the beautiful beaches of Sanibel, but that has changed this year alongside other challenges. My new job doesn’t allow me flexible time off, so I wasn’t able to travel to see family or friends this holiday.

It wasn’t a huge deal, but I felt sorry for myself for weeks. Everyone knows I’m the queen of being alone, but this one felt more difficult. I had such FOMO seeing my besties at home together and hearing from my parents in Florida. I struggled with my thoughts of being alone and feeling like there’s something wrong with me for being single. It always goes back to that somehow. Maybe it’s because holidays always spark that ‘togetherness’ or being together with your peeps. Especially before a holiday like Thanksgiving, I was sad about spending it without family. 

Then I thought more about how wonderful my life is. The friends, family, and peers I have. The trips I go on, the memories I make, and hell, the roof over my head and clothing in my drawers. I have more than enough. I was being such a boob! I honored my feelings around loneliness for a day or two and then I picked myself up. My feelings were valid, and there were people out there with much less than me. It was time to keep moving forward.

I wanted to flip this script to give back to others who are truly alone and struggling. And when I decided to volunteer at United Parish in Brookline on Thanksgiving, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew is I wanted to fill my cup by giving back to others and stop pretending my life was ‘hard’.

I woke up early this morning, did an amazing workout (shoutout to my girl, Maddie), and my soul felt filled. It was so nice to have a morning to sleep in and slow down. I went to the parish around lunch time and of course I was dressed to kill. I mean come on; I always am! Unfortunately for me, I was put on dishwashing duty. You guys should have seen me there in my Sunday best, with hot pink cleaning gloves on...Ummmm do they know who I am?

For the next two hours, everyone was handing me their dirty dishes and I was dropping silverware in the garbage by accident. Oops! Okay so I may have left early, but I immediately felt that spark of joy helping others. I met a few really nice people and had a good time chatting and helping others out. Except for the man who lectured me on where to throw things out (screw him and his composter...I have to be the only person who gets in a fight while volunteering!) But I powered through and finished up my job. If you know me, you know I went straight home for a rum cocktail—well deserved I’d like to say.

I came home to try my hand at making my own Thanksgiving day spread; oddly I still had an appetite after looking at people's chewed up leftovers. I bought the turkey with seasonings and gravy in a bag from Wegmans- needless to say it slipped out, fell on the oven floor, and hello smoke alarm! Hot toddy in hand and I'm waving my towel over the smoke alarm. Pulling that little turkey from the oven floor, and throwing it in the air fryer! It was still good...A Thanksgiving to remember.

Getting out of my own head and going to help others today was so meaningful—even If I scraped someone’s nasty turkey off a plate. I felt good giving back, and reminded me how lucky I truly am. Even though my peeps were a few hundred miles away this year, the phone calls and notes made them feel closer to me. It reminded me to be present and appreciate the time we’re given. The simple things if you will, especially from this year. The ability to change, to pivot, to chase my dreams. What a wonderful life.

Slow down this holiday season. Smile at someone. Help someone out. Call your friends and family. Hug your peeps.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my babes. I'm so blessed to have people who choose me right back.

-C