A Short, Heartfelt Thanksgiving Post

I’ve always liked Thanksgiving.

I like the idea of taking time from our busy schedules to remember to say “Thanks”—something most of us never do enough, and that definitely includes me. It’s a holiday, not about lights or presents, but about stopping to acknowledge the good things in our lives. Thankfully, our commercial culture hasn’t yet figured out a way to “market” the day and turn it into another money-making opportunity and I hope it never does.

Of course, the roasted turkey, special recipe mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce are always delicious and my mouth waters thinking of my wife’s homemade apple sauce and apple pie, but what I love most is the fact that we use the day to gather as family and friends and take a moment to take stock of our blessings.

Years ago, my wife, my kids and I made it a tradition to hold hands around the festive, overflowing dining room and, before we eat, we take turns recognizing something special we were thankful for that year. This week we will continue that tradition around our now multi-generational dinner table. And I don’t know about you but this year, more than most, I really need those reminders of our blessings.

So for this Thanksgiving blog post, I’d like to share the single thing I am most thankful for in 2022. This year more than any, I have been reminded how grateful I am to be surrounded by such a wonderful family…and boy, have I needed them.

This week marks my wife’s and my 50th Wedding Anniversary! Of course, this has been cause for great joy in our household and we had wonderful plans to celebrate and commemorate the occasion, but our celebration has been tinged with a harsh dose of reality. Three weeks ago, my wife Cathy came down with a major infection which spread to her new hip. Now, after an extensive surgery last week to excise the infection and what will be weeks of IV antibiotics, she is slowly on the mend, a recovery which will take months, at least. I share this only to point out this year’s tough lesson. I could well have lost her.

All of this has demonstrated with remarkable clarity how precious those around me are and that tomorrow is promised to none of us. At this year’s Thanksgiving Day dinner, I will be sharing how grateful I am to have my wife of fifty years and the wonderful family we have created—at least most of them—surrounding our table and filling our house with love. Rather than fret about my wife’s illness and wallow in anxiety of health concerns, I’ll be sharing my abundant thanks for the many wonderful blessings the past fifty years have given us…and pray the years to come have a few more blessings tucked inside.

I realize that’s quite a bit to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

I hope you have a few special blessings to be thankful for in 2022. If you are so inclined, I’d love to hear what you are especially thankful for this year as well. Peace.