Thanksgiving Day

My favorite holiday of all. It is a day of gathering family and close friends. It is a day of feasting on traditional foods. The day has its own special aroma. The weather is crisp yet indoors it is warm, humid from all the cooking, and a soft buzz of conversation.

Yes, Thanksgiving is a day of thankfulness. We intentionally think upon the things we so often take for granted. So easy to do; it takes some effort to recall all that we are grateful for. And there is a lot of that.

Health. Family. Peace. Comfort. Finances. Career. The quality of our homelife. And friends. Very much our friends.

The news is a downer. So much attention on threats, murders, crimes, carnage of weather, disruptions of violence, politics and challenges we have little control over. The news is what happens to us or could. Being grateful is a reminder that there are so many aspects to life that the news cannot disrupt. It is there for us to enjoy and value. It is always there. It is up to us to see it, feel it, value it.

Thank you for holding the door open for me. Thank you for those cupcakes you left at our door as a surprise! Or the Halloween bag of candy left anonymously on our doorknob. So thoughtful of you. And the sweets and treats you drop off throughout the year. A call for help answered. A chuckle or two shared. Thank you for being my friend.

The roof over our head. How long has it been there? How many different roofs have protected me over the years? How much effort did it take to make that happen? And it was there when we needed it. Year after year.

Food on the table, whether tasty or not, it is supportive of our health. It is there to eat and enjoy. Almost always it is there because of someone’s effort to please our palette. And it does so often. Yet we rarely express our gratitude for this wonder.

What other things might we often forget to think of? Well, that’s up to each of us to determine, isn’t it?

Lest I forget, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May this be a day to remember for you.

November 24, 2022

 

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