Thanksgiving Day is over

As we all know, families grow. Our family used to travel to Santa Maria every Thanksgiving to talk politics with the relatives and catch up with all the cousins over an incredible Thanksgiving feast filled with traditional vitals and first time experimental entrees, ping pong tournaments and shuffle board. Now we are all grown up with spouses and children trying to balance more family and make traditions of our own while still preserving the specialness of the past. Uncle Gary would always make his pumpkin side dish and it is still a prerequisite for Thanksgiving dinner even though it has been years since we have had the pleasure of a Santa Maria Thanksgiving. This year I even whipped up some honey butter in memory of Great Grandma Thompson who despite her years (she lived to be over 100) always made honey butter, making the dinner rolls that much better than normal dinner rolls. From my moms side I make the green jello salad that Grandma Cecile never let us go without when we had our Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings, though my jello salad is more of a light purple because I use fruit juice instead of the jello packets. We still call it "Grandma Cecile's green jello salad" though.

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone. The feast was everything I could have hoped for, being plentiful and sumptuous. Everyone brought their tasty contributions to the table and we dined with impressive energy.

 Specific moments in life are easy to feel thankful over, the feeling just seems to well up inside and spill over. Thanksgiving dinner was one of those times. I looked down the long lines of family on either side and felt overwhelmed with gratitude:

… for God and the hope that exists in my life because He is ever present.

… For my husband who makes family life so fun.

….For my parents who are the most loyal, unselfish, wonderful people. The city on a hill.

….For my siblings and their spouses who make me laugh at myself and at them; who constantly strive to love more and better and do kind acts without thought to a return.

 ….And my kids, those unique, amazing, aggravating, remarkable, mind-boggling little  miracles, I just want to squeeze their splendid cheeks and cry over them. Thank you God for these babies, they teach me to see the world in richer color.

These moments that make you feel strong emotion aren’t constant, often it takes a great deal of contrivance to feel a tiny surge of gratitude. I often look at my life and see the flaws, the things I am imperfect in, the failings. It is a gift I have, what can I say: a constant awareness of what needs improvement and frankly, a sure way to disseminate unhappiness. I know I harbor this propensity so fight against it I must, to truly live the life I have and help make the happiness of those around me. I know that a grateful heart cultivated on a daily basis and sometimes even a moment to moment basis, is the true recipe for fighting depression and discontent. Thanksgiving of the heart must be a continual commitment not just a once a year awareness.

As I practice thanksgiving everyday I notice a surge and a swelling of gratitude that is as freeing as it is illuminating and am able to feast on the moments, with my children and husband; with my family and the great big world.

“I had the blues

 because I had no shoes,

 till upon the street

I met a man who had no feet.”