This year's H-Town Valdez Thanksgiving

This year was definitely different as we celebrated Thanksgiving without my daddy/papu. BUT we so fortunately made it through... Slowly but surely. I try to take the kiddos every year to the Thanksgiving Parade so it can become a tradition and we can enjoy it as a family. We had a blast! It was freeeeeeezing in Houston finally! We were ready though, all bundled up with our hot cocoa. The pics are of our fav floating balloons; the candy cane, the dinosaur, the elf and of course, Santa!
My dad was a huge family man and because of that, I want to follow his legacy. Ever since I was a kiddo, because I was the only child from my mom, they spoiled me rotten with family fun events and outings. There was never a moment that I can even remember, where I was bored from doing nothing. I want to instill family into my children and for them to always remember family is a big deal.
It wasn't easy, gathering around my grandma's house waiting for the food to be prayed over. I never realized how much impact my daddy had on everyone. I mean, i knew how special he was but BOOM there it was... it hit me hard! As we got up to pray, my family paused and we all looked at each other... I sunk my head down and realized, my dad wasn't there to pray over the food anymore. He will never be able to pray over our Thanksgiving or Christmas meals as he did this year, after year, after year, since I was a child. We all were silent and allowed my 99 year old bilingual grandma say a prayer. It was short and to the point, however, I missed my daddy's voice. I missed his lengthy prayer and most of all, I missed holding his hand when we would pray. Then my beautiful 7 year old daughter decided to step up as she decided to pray in English.
She prayed such a beautiful prayer as always, including her Papu, asking God to bring him back from heaven because we miss him. Asking God to help Mommy and Mamu get through this because it is really hard for us. But thanking him for allowing her to have known him for the years she had. She definitely made the family tear up because it was so heart felt and touching. Then my 4 year old son decided to say a little prayer too. He always wants to be like his sister. It too was touching because he is still too young to understand that Papu can't come back. He prayed for Jesus to bring Papu back so he could be with us and take him to the park. We know the reality of it and we know that it's impossible to have him in our everyday lives. But with God we can make it through each day. We can fight through all these battles. And we can keep him close to our hearts with memories such as these to comfort us knowing he was such a true man of God and such a special person in our lives that no one can take away.