KYRA DAVIS: A Lot Has Happened Between This Thanksgiving And Last

The thing about holidays like Thanksgiving is that they remind you of what you were doing and thinking at the same time last year. For me it crystalizes exactly how crazy the twelve months between last Thanksgiving and now have been. There were friends that I had at that time who were a major part of my life who I now barely ever have any communication with at all. On the flip side there are people who I barely knew or didn't know at all who I've become very close to and some of them have literally changed my life. And there are of course the friendships that I've cherished for years and have continued to grow stronger with time. Last Thanksgiving I thought my career was trucking along at a slow but steady pace. A few months after last Thanksgiving my career screeched to a halt. A few months after that it seemed to be set in reverse. And now my career is not only moving in the right direction but it's possibly poised to get on the Autobahn.

Between last Thanksgiving and now I lost my faith in love, then I began to get it back, and then I found that I simply didn't care that much one way or another. I know how that sounds but I can honestly say that my romantic life just doesn't feel like a big priority to me right now. I'm so fulfilled by my friendships, my strong connections to family and my work that the men who are vying for my attention are having a very hard time getting it. I just don't really feel the need to fit that into my schedule at the moment. That said, I do now believe that all my previous failed romances were incredibly valuable experiences. I have strong friendships with those men who I wasn't able to make things work with but nonetheless never betrayed my trust. When I think of the time I spent with those guys and when I enjoy the conversations I have with them now I'm reminded that not all men are idiots (only a small majority of you). For those failed relationships where there were hard feelings, well those hard feelings are gone (at least on my side) and I am a stronger and better person for the challenges that they (for the most part, unintentionally) put me through. In an odd way, I owe that latter group as much as I owe the former and I'm incredibly grateful for all of them.

Last Thanksgiving I thought that I would never find a middle school that would work for my gifted and special-needs child and had resigned myself to homeschooling. A few months later I found the perfect school. A few weeks after finding it I realized that I couldn't afford this perfect school and a few months after that my family stepped up to the plate and found a way to help me make it work.

Really, it's all enough to make a girl dizzy. But because of the chaos of the last twelve months I now realize exactly how much I have to be grateful for. Roller coaster rides do that to you. They make you thankful for the highs and the lows and most importantly, for your ability to get back to solid ground.

I hope that all of you have as much to be grateful for. I hope that if you're in one of those roller coaster lows you are able to remember that these rides never last forever. Eventually you'll have the opportunity to get off and then you'll be rightfully proud of your ability to survive the experience.

In the meantime try to enjoy the holiday-imposed family time and drown your sorrows in turkey gravy.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kyra Davis