Thanksgiving

It’s time of year again.  You know, the time when we stop and take a day to profess our Thanks.

But why do we profess our Thanks only once a year?

Several years ago, I found myself feeling “sorry for myself”.  Why, the kids were all busy or out of state on Thanksgiving Day, so I decided we would not be doing Thanksgiving.

We treated the day just like a Saturday, and did things we would usually do on any other Saturday.  All the while, I was missing something.  It wasn’t the traditional Thanksgiving Diner (which happens to be one of my favorite meals), but rather the idea of gathering with family.  

It was that day, it kinda hit me like a ton of bricks.  Thanksgiving had nothing to do with the day, nothing to do with the turkey and stuffing, and really nothing to do with where we are.  Thanksgiving is really an emotion, a feeling, a time to Be Thankful for all we do have.

The fact that I was sulking because my kids weren’t with me, meant I had a family that I actually wanted to be with. I didn’t spend half a day standing over a stove cooking, but  it meant that I had someone to cook for.  

Today, my Thanksgiving looks much different than it did back then.   I have realized that even though we set aside one day a year to contemplate what to be Thankful for, I say a prayer of Thanksgiving for all I have, each and every day I wake up.

After all, Thanksgiving is not a day on the calendar, but rather an emotion, a feeling, a Celebration of all we have been given.