*November 26th, 2020* (Thanksgiving)
It’s a brisk morning, just brisk enough to enjoy out on the small porch that our house had to offer. A slight frost can be seen atop the dead grass in the front lawn as well as the surrounding area.
I sip the apple cider from my mug that I had made fresh earlier that morning. My mother had a not-so-secret recipe for homemade cider that she always made once it got cold. I didn’t tend to make it myself very often after her passing, however once Dashie came along, making it was only natural with how much she seemed to enjoy it on the show. I put extra care in making this morning’s batch just for her.
When I was growing up in this very house, my parents loved to put on the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special for us all to watch together as a family. It was always my favorite, as I’ve tended to have a soft spot for history it seems. Once I hit my teenage years, we stopped watching it. But, as has happened several times at this point, Dashie came along and reignited the tradition. I was fortunate that we still had the VCR and VHS tape for it stashed away in what has since become Dashie’s bedroom.
It’s funny how I mention that she brought that tradition back to life like many others, considering how she’s grown out of them herself these last few years. I suppose that I should’ve come to expect that, but to me, she’s always just been a filly, anyways.
This year has been pretty crazy so far. It started out regularly enough, but it got outside of the ordinary pretty quickly. It's gone by slower than usual, and yet, in another way, faster than ever. I guess getting the virus slowed it down a little. It was practically torture to be stuck in one room almost all day for over a week before I finally tested negative for it. For well over a decade, I was accustomed to walking my souls out just about every day. It was a weird feeling not being able to do that, but it was for a good reason, at least. The last thing that I wanted to do was spread it around to anyone, especially Dashie.
I actually ended up missing Election Day because of it. I've never been very big into politics, but it seemed especially important this year, for many reasons. I was actually planning on voting in it this year. Oh well, maybe in 2024...
Of course, that was then and this is now; which is a time that I'm much happier to be in. One final note on the virus, though. It sounds like scientists are getting pretty close to a vaccine, and they've said that it could be ready before the end of the year. After the last 8 months that the world has had, I think that would be the best news anyone has heard in a long time... It almost makes me want time to go by faster so that I can finally get my vaccine and not have to worry so heavily about keeping Dashie safe from it... Almost... After all, whenever the time does come that Dashie and I part, I know that I'd do anything at that moment for a mere additional second to be with her, so the last thing I want to do now is to wish away those precious seconds.
Speaking of spending time with my daughter, she should be waking up around now. Over the years, we've been practicing our fine cooking skills for Thanksgiving together, and by now we've gotten pretty good at it. I did most of the work myself over the last day or two especially. However, there are still quite a few things that need to get done before we have our big feast around lunchtime.
I have really enjoyed getting back into the spirit of holidays ever since Dashie came into my life. It was hard to celebrate them before she came around, considering how I didn't really have anybody to celebrate with or anything going on in my life that felt like it was worth celebrating... Once the little filly made her way into my home, I wanted to make sure that she recognized and understood the significance behind the holidays that we celebrate once a year. She definitely has her preferences for them, but she's always enjoyed the great food that came along with the fun cooking of Thanksgiving. I still sometimes struggle to make sure she understands what Thanksgiving is all about, as well as what happened in the first place to make us celebrate it, though.
But, come to think of it, I was probably the same, if not worse, back when I was her age. As far as I can tell, Dashie is leaps and bounds a better kid than I ever was. I'm really not sure whether to attest that to my parenting or how she must've acted as a filly on the show. I know I wasn't the best kid, but I certainly wasn't the worst, either. It was nothing to blame my parents for, that's for sure. I suppose that it doesn't really matter, though.
Dashie really is such a great kid compared to the one that I was. Then again, that's all that a good parent would ever strive for; helping their child become a better person, or in my case, pony, than the ones that came before. It's kind of unbelievable how I was able to pull that off, to be honest. I was raised pretty well, but it was nothing that would've prepared me to raise a rainbow-colored filly all on my own...
Fittingly, I think it's best not to look a gift-horse in the mouth about this sort of thing. You won't find me complaining about my life situation anytime soon.
Speaking of "anytime soon", Dashie is probably waiting for me to come back inside at this point. Sometimes I forget that she can't exactly come out on the front porch with me, regardless of the time of day or anything else. It's just too risky, even if the number of people who live in this area drops more and more every year.
With this in mind, I head back inside to go and greet Dashie for what is sure to be a good day.
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"Dad, there's something that I've always been curious about... I know that you say I'm not supposed to eat meat because I'm an herbivore or something, but why don't you? Aren't you, like, a carnivore and an herbivore at the same time?" Dashie asks me this while we pull the kebabs out of the oven as one of the main courses for our Thanksgiving lunch. It's a question that I've answered many times over the years, but I still answer it as if I never have. There's no need to patronize her.
"Well, Dashie. I'm what you would call an 'omnivore'. This means that I can properly digest both plants and meat. You can't digest meat, on the other hand. I hardly ever eat meat anymore because it wouldn't be fair to you to have to watch me always eating something that you can't. Plus, it is a lot healthier of a lifestyle, so it sorta hits two birds with one stone." In all reality, I miss meat quite a lot... and sometimes I wish that I could cook myself some bacon, or something, but it just isn't fair. Back when I first started going vegetarian when Dashie came into my life, I always contemplated the idea of having some stashed away in the freezer so that I could whip some up after she had gone to bed, but it always seemed like too much. Also, something that I never really noticed, meat is a lot more expensive than fruits and vegetables... and when you're living paycheck to paycheck, the money you save really starts to become noticeable and handy after only a month or so.
Dashie's reply is as quippy as they come. "Pops, you know I don't care... Besides, I'm sure that meat is overrated anyway."
I can't help but chuckle before I respond. "Ha! You don't know the half of it!" As much as I'd like to prove her wrong by showing her what meat can smell and taste like, the relatively small, mature part of my brain convinces me otherwise.
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Another Thanksgiving meal has come and gone... I tend to say this just about every year, aside from the one that we completely blew and got pizza instead, but we outdid ourselves once again with the food. Those potato and vegetable kebabs, along with the mac and cheese casserole, green beans, the rolls, all came together to create the complete package for us to enjoy at the dining room table with each other. And I can totally see myself having a ball with the leftover cranberry sauce. Slap that on two pieces of toasted bread with crunchy peanut butter and you got yourself a tasty treat.
But, enough about all that. Dashie and I are currently enjoying our collective food coma while laying on the living room couch. My beautiful daughter dozes peacefully against my lap as I watch the sunset and debate doing the same myself.
After a moment's pondering, I realize that I never went through the mail... We didn't actually get any today, with it being a holiday, and all. However, the mail that I brought in from yesterday has spent its time on the end table ever since. Usually, I'll go through it after Dashie has gone to bed, or something, just in case it contains anything that she shouldn't be seeing, like bills that might make her feel bad for being a freeloader, or ads for something that we definitely can't afford... But, with yesterday being the day before Thanksgiving, I was pretty wrapped up in preparing for all of that.
Without further ado, I reach over for the envelopes that had been waiting patiently for a whole day now and start to go through them. I read them to myself as I do.
'Let's see, electric bill.' I put this at the back of the line as I check the others.
'Water bill.' It seems that Dashie has really been enjoying her nighttime showers this past month.
'Internet bill.' Might be time to cancel that plan if I'm honest. I've hardly used it for years, now.
'IMPORTANT NOTICE.' Probably nothing...
'Come on down to Dean's Used Auto Store!' Would be nice, not that I have much reason for it, right now.
I get to the end of the stack right as I do a double-take. I haven't actually seen an Important Notice in the mail in the many years that I've owned this home. For some reason, my mind goes back to the rumors that had been swelling around over the course of the last few years regarding the future of the neighborhood and area as a whole. The ones that mainly assumed that this whole place might get demolished and overrun by something else one day.
Without taking another moment to ponder the possibilities, I open the Important Notice and read through the letter.
To Current Resident,
We are sending you this letter to inform you that the land that your house resides in
as well as much of the surrounding area has been approved for a complete overhaul.
Much of the land included with the overhaul will be demolished, and a factory will be
taking its place. Shortly after, there are also plans to rebuild new homes in the wake of
the old ones to draw in new families to the outskirts of Detroit. More specifically, this
letter serves as a 12-month notice to either move-out and find temporary housing while
the new homes are being built, or move to another area entirely. The choice is that of the
owner. Local government officials will contact you at the start of the new year with an offer
for your property as is the due course of the law. Unfortunately, denying this offer will not
be an option and the relocation will be mandatory, at least temporarily. If you have any
questions regarding this notice, mail us back using the mailing address below. Or, you can
give us a call using the number above, or send us an email with the email address below.
We no longer accept faxes. Thank you, and we wish you all good luck with this process.
Your local government agency
I take a brief moment to absorb all that the letter had to say. I just sit there, with the only audible sounds being my breathing and Dashie's stretching as she begins to awaken.
Dashie rubs her left eyelid as she speaks. "Ahhhh, what's up, Pops? Anything cool come in the mail? Oh, are there any letters for me?!" She was joking with that last part, and although the letter wasn't technically for her, the words that it held were going to change her life just as much, and if not more than it was going to change mine...
I take a breath before I respond. "Well, as a matter of fact, yes, Dashie. There was something for you, for both of us, actually. We got some stuff to talk about..."
And talk we did. I read the letter to her as I did to myself, although she still had a hard time understanding what it meant exactly. So, I explained everything to her. I explained how the house that she's grown up in so far was going to get destroyed in a year from now and that we'd have to leave. I also explained why this was happening and why there was nothing that we could do about it.
Naturally, she had a lot of questions. Some of which that I couldn't even answer, but I still tried to do so to the best of my ability. I felt a little lost in doing this, though. This process was certainly one that I had never been through in my life, and I was mostly just patching answers together from what little knowledge that I had on the subject, as well as what information the letter gave me.
It was hard to get her to understand why we couldn't say no... or why having to leave her childhood home, along with the park, was supposed to be a good thing for everyone involved overall. She understood the concept of moving, having talked to her about the possibility of doing so in the past sporadically along with the cartoons she's watched that covered the subject as well, but it didn't make it any easier for her.
She wasn't exactly heartbroken, but it was clear from the look in her eyes that she wasn't happy... The worst part was when she asked me this one question that I had absolutely no idea how to tackle...
"Daddy... Where will we go?.." She looked up at me with a very confused and very pouty expression. Her ears drooped down in displeasure. Growing up, I've always been her go-to when it came to questions because I always had some sort of answer, whether they were particularly satisfying, or not. However, this time around, I really couldn't say anything aside from the whole truth...
After thinking for a moment with silence between us, I answer her. "I don't know, Dashie... But, what I do know is that no matter where we end up, we will be together. It may not be anywhere special, but I assure you, once we get our hands and hooves on it, we'll make it special, you and me. Because home isn't marked by a place, home is where the heart is. I don't know about you, but my heart lies with you. So, before too long we will end up leaving this place, and we'll probably make it the adventure of a lifetime. It won't be easy, but as long as we have each other, we can do anything."
Dashie's ears perk back up like they did when she first graced my living room as a filly. I can't help but smile and hug her to death. I just love her so much, and I don't know what I'd do without her at this point.
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Dashie and I decided to spend the night on the couch, not having any particular obligations tomorrow thanks to the holiday weekend. We even made plans to start browsing for a new place to call home starting tomorrow. Our hope is that we'll have a place picked out that we'd prefer before I have to go back to work on Monday, but we'll just have to see about that.
I look down as Dashie rests her head upon my lap while she sleeps. The moonlight from outside capturing her face perfectly. It reminds me a lot of the very first night that I had her in my care nearly ten years ago, now. She's not so little anymore, but no matter how old she gets, or where we end up, or if we're together or apart, I know that she'll always be my little Dashie... This Thanksgiving, I think that's what I'm most thankful for.