“A New Thanksgiving”

A few days ago, Corinne asked me what I thought about providing a full Thanksgiving Dinner for anybody on duty at the Norwich Police Department (on Thanksgiving Day).

Shane was living in Norwich when he fell from his balcony, and it was a couple of Norwich detectives that came to our home to notify us.

We both feel pretty strongly about Norwich now, and as soon as she mentioned the idea I knew it was a good one.

Wednesday I finally remembered to call them. Had to let them know what we were planning, and why, as well as find out if they'd accept it and if there were any special details of which we should be made aware.

Det. Dolan said everyone there knew who we were, and at first he was afraid that we were doing this as a sort of apology for getting so upset with the detective that came to the house. I explained that no, that had nothing to do with it, and that we both really feel the need to do something.

He explained to me that working on Thanksgiving Day is the toughest day of the year for a policeman, and it really helps "immensely" to know that someone is thinking about them. To actually have someone prepare a full meal for the whole department, well... by the time we hung up, there was a definite hitch in his voice.

Our Thanksgiving is going to be different this year, because our lives are so different than anything we knew before. When it's difficult to find something within ourselves for which we can be thankful, well, perhaps we can find it by giving.