“Happy Thanksgiving my Portadown family!
This is the first time in my entire life that I have spent Thanksgiving away from my family in the states. Although I imagine many of you have a decent understanding of what Thanksgiving is all about, I’ll give a personal American viewpoint in hopes to better explain it.
More so than any other holiday, Thanksgiving has one key element that makes it special – it is a holiday designated to be surrounded by those you love and to spend time appreciating their presence in your life. It of course has its historical context like any other holiday – some of which is a bit controversial but in today’s day & age, it has primarily shifted away from the history attached to it but rather the meaningful time spent with those important in your life.
I have two amazing nephews, Steele (age 4) and Armando (age 2) and will admit that it has been hard for me to watch them grow up over FaceTime calls & not be there in person to be “Fun Uncle Bobby” that I want to be however it is quite rewarding to be able to see them watch as their Uncle chases his dreams, having them cheer me on the whole way.
For those of you who were at the Dergview game a few weeks back at Shamrock Park, you got to see my immediate family be present there – my parents, Jeff & Sarah and my siblings, Andrew & Kate. Of my entire life thus far, that single day has been one of the most special days to me – having the people I love most be apart of the club I love most. These are the people that on a holiday like Thanksgiving, I would surround myself with.
It would only be natural to say today is a day for me to feel a bit more homesick than regular but I don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I of course miss my family and am sad to be missing out seeing everyone during the holiday season. I wish I was able to run around with my nephews kicking a football
about the house, I wish I could sit with my siblings & cousins and talk about how crazy it is that we’re all growing up too fast, I wish I could have just one bite of my family’s legendary pumpkin pie (& trust me, so should you!) but I have two homes, my home in America, the one in which all the Turkey carving is currently taking place, but I also my Northern Ireland home, the one where I am surrounded by my closest friends & a community who has treated me as if I was their own blood from the second I arrived. There may be less Turkey over here but still just as much love.
You see this love on the pitch, there’s a unity amongst this team that knows when our back is against the wall, you’ve got 10 other guys on the field that would run through a wall for one another. You know when you make a mistake, you’ve got somebody right behind you to back you up. More than anything, this has been most visible through the month of November. Results were gained because of the collective mentality each and every player has on the pitch.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone – on this day I am most grateful for this club and everyone within it.
We go again Saturday.
Up the Ports.
Bobby”