Monthly Message from the WLC Coordinator
November Message
Here it is November and the anticipation of the major US holidays is in the air. In the U.S. Thanksgiving is a time for most families to gather together and, hopefully, count their blessings. November is also National Family Stories Month, and I can understand why that may be. Some of the funniest and some of the most heartbreaking stories of family life come from the great family gatherings on Thanksgiving Day.
While in college I spent one Thanksgiving with a friend and her family. It also happened to be her mother’s 50th birthday and menopause was wreaking havoc on her body. The big day arrived and we were all aflutter preparing for the feast. In between inferno like hot flashes, my friend’s mother was putting the final touches on the meal and directing all of us for specific tasks.
We sat down to a beautiful meal and about five minutes into the meal we all smelled the cook’s worst nightmare: burning food. Mrs. H hopped up and ran to the kitchen. We heard what sounded like a wounded animal. She quickly came back in the room with blackened rolls, smoking as if to mock her. She quickly broke down in tears, declaring this was the last Thanksgiving she would ever be a part of.
We all rallied and did our best to soothe her. She finally had to laugh when Mr. H tried to eat one of the burnt rolls to convince her it “wasn’t so bad.” Every Thanksgiving since I call Mrs. H, and we laugh as we retell the story.
Unfortunately holidays can bring about a great deal of stress and anxiety for some, because one can be sure that if there is some dysfunction in a family it’s sure to be exposed during a holiday or family gathering. If your experiences haven’t been so great during the holidays or with family gatherings then do something different this year.
Have everyone pitch in for big meals; plan on staying only a short time with family; bring a friend with you to the gathering (maybe you family will be on “company behavior”; plan a relaxing activity after the event and don’t forget to pray.
If you would like some tips on how to manage stress during the holidays plan to attend “Tis the Season to De-Stress” November 10 from noon to 1:00pm in the Gallery Room of Young Library. For other offerings during National Family Care Giver Month follow this link http://www.uky.edu/HR/ElderCare/Nationalfamilycaregivermonth.html.
Ann Bassoni, WLC Coordinator
Contact Ann Bassoni:
- Phone: (859) 257-9433
- e-mail: ann.bassoni@uky.edu
(updated 11/05/09, Julie Geraci, jbgera2@email.uky.edu)
