What is Thanksgiving? It certainly is not the pretty picture I grew up with of the loving and peaceful pilgrim embracing the Indian in headdress. That never happened but it was the taught holiday that we replicated each year with too much food, a feast of magnificent proportions to do as those pilgrims and give thanks for a ‘bountiful harvest.’
Then as I aged, Thanksgiving became about family eating. Not really an observation of thanking anything but whoever cooked the bird. Football on TV, smells of turkey and re-runs of a New York Parade were Thanksgiving.
Single, Thanksgiving was often spent alone, but I still did the dinner and froze leftovers. I just loved the smell and flipping through newspaper Christmas sales. It was cozy. The times and events of my first marriage I have to say are a blank about Thanksgiving. I have no idea what we did. But married to the right person now – it is again the smells of turkey, sounds of football, soup cooking in the evening and leftovers to freeze and enjoy.
This year I’ll still do that – get the turkey going, have football on in the background as I watch Lifetime or Hallmark Christmas shows. But this year too I go back to the word of Thanksgiving. Giving Thanks. I stop now to appreciate, be grateful and give thanks to my life.
Thank you, family, for being there. Thank you, husband, for being there, being present and being my fit. Thank you, my puppies, for being the light of my life, for loving me without conditions or terms, for giving me a smile every day and a willing hug any time. Thank you, my kittens, for helping me laugh every day, for your loud prrs that fill my ears and the trust I see in your eyes. Thank you to my friends for being there for me and allowing me to be there for you.
Thank you to the universe, God, or whatever Is out there for where I am today. A solid roof over my head, health, happiness and a life that allows me to live without fears and question. Thank you for the gift of a photographer’s eye and the magnificent beauty that surrounds us. Thank you for each sunrise and sunset, each full moon, raindrop and gust of wind.
Thanksgiving is reflection of the positives in my life, the one day where I pause and simply account for thanks. This year I have so much to be truly thankful for.
