Brittani Lowe – Joe Lowe’s Granddaughter – Talks About Her First Thanksgiving Without Geedad

by Brittani Lowe

So this is the first Thanksgiving without my Geedad, Joe Lowe. I am kind of sad and mopey, but I know that he wouldn't want us to be that way so I am trying to be excited about the holiday.

I am traveling, which is nothing new. Usually we go to Florida for Thanksgiving but this year my Nana, Bubbie and I are going to North Carolina instead of Florida. This is kind of a good thing and also kind of a bad thing. I will miss being in Florida for Thanksgiving, but I'm not ready to go down there just yet because I am still not used to him being gone.

I am going to be dropped off in Mooresville where we are meeting up with Dylan, my boyfriend. We will be traveling from Mooresville to home to North Carolina and back home again. When I say "travel" I mean it! I'm so excited about wonderful vacation. It seems so close yet so far away.

Thanksgiving Day, I am going to keep myself super busy and like most young couples, we'll be darting back and forth between homes.

Everyone kept telling me that this Thanksgiving was going to be different; I just didn’t think that it would be this different.  If I had known that I had two months to make every second count, I would have done a lot more than just been an occasional smiling face. This will be the first Thanksgiving that my family has ever been apart. Yeah, I have split parents and I have one meal at each house, but this is different. My family will literally be about 600 miles away from each other. Also, it’s the first holiday we have had without him. Okay, well there was Halloween. But, to me that isn’t considered a real family-sit-down-and-enjoy-each-other’s-company holiday. So it will be different...

The holiday I am really not looking forward to is Christmas. He never missed that holiday; we were always together. When I was younger I used to sleep in between Nana and him. I would always wake up wound up and ready to go. Someone would always play Santa and pass out the gifts. He always got Old Spice. He literally had enough to last him a lifetime. Just like he had enough flags to last his lifetime. It’s going to be hard to not think about what could have been or should have been. Hug your families this holiday season - you never know when it will be your last together.