Together still, just a little different

 So we made it through Thanksgiving.  After the craziest end to the bears game, dinner went really well.  Mandy did  a great job with the turkey and the sides.  We even got some board and card games in at the end.  To wrap up the end of the night, I posted this:



For those that we didn't spend Thanksgiving with, I may have been misleading that Thanksgiving wasn't good.  It went well.  There are lots of details left out. I was thankful for being with family.  I do have a lot to be thankful for: Amanda, Hannah, my family (especially my dad) have been really helpful over the last 2 months. But I meant what I posted: Thanksgiving will never be the same.  

We went to bed, woke up, did some black Friday shopping, ate some leftovers, worked out, and then decided to watch Moana 2 as a family. 

So Mandy bought tickets to the 4:45 show and we did a few more tasks around the house.  I set up my Christmas village, which by the way, earned it's location on top of the armoire so Audrey wouldn't go Godzilla through it.  It has kept it's location due to Bruno.

No lights yet.  Those will be coming later.

I did a few more tasks around the house.  I changed my Facebook profile pic, drilled 1/2 inch hole in the bottom of Audrey's light fixture that Mandy got for her, and we ate a quick dinner.  Then we rushed to the car in true Cismesia fashion to head out to the cemetery and then the movie.

But it was already 4:15, and we would not have time to make it out to the cemetery before the movie.  So we headed for Moana 2 and would see Audrey at the cemetery later.

For those who don't know, Moana was Audrey's first favorite movie.  Before she loved "B" (Sleeping Beauty) and "Hair" (Rapunzel), her favorite was Moana.  Her second birthday party was Moana themed.  

Oh yeah, her 2nd birthday was May 29, 2020.  So, her entire family and friends couldn't even come to her birthday party all at the same time.  So all her family made this video for her pandemic style.
Yeah, Audrey LOVED Moana.  I recently read that Moana was the most streamed movie of 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.  I am pretty sure that those numbers were propped up between Audrey and two of her friends from ABA who also watched Moana religiously.  She watched that movie so much.  Before Audrey's favorite doll was Mirabel, her Moana dolls and Pua plushy were her favorite.

So we make it to the theater just in time to get popcorn and snacks, and we take our seat.  Two previews, and then on to the show.  With all that build up, it would make sense that this movie would not leave us with a dry eye.  But man, it felt like this movie was written just about the four of us.

No spoilers, but Moana has a younger sister.  Also, Lin Manuel Miranda knows how to write some amazing songs.  The whole movie is about "finding another way."  Gramma Tala even says we are "together still, just a little different." As Hannah is sitting in the middle of us, I am trying not to bawl my eyes out at specific parts of the movie, and I look at Mandy to see if she is keeping herself composed, and if the movie is touching her as much as it did me.  As the movie wraps up, we walked to the bathroom.  As I held Mandy and Hannah's jackets, I powered on my phone and received this message from Mandy.
And I knew that the movie meant as much to both Mandy and Hannah as it did for me.  We jumped in the car and made our way to Audrey's.  

You see, the reason that we wanted to stop by the cemetery was because we wanted to decorate her grave for Christmas.  We always want Audrey's to be decorated at the same time as our house, which is why the tree isn't quite up yet, and the lights aren't on in the Christmas village.  It is not just as easy as decorating Audrey's graveside.  You see, Audrey's cemetery has winds that are even stronger than at our house, which I contend is usually twice as windy as the weatherman says.  Any who, we have tried to set up Audrey's light for the last 2 weeks, and finally I was given the green light to drill in the bottom of it.  We had to "find another way."


             


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