Thanksgiving 2018

Another year has passed since the last Thanksgiving.  Like in everything else we celebrate, each year grants us the chance to do all the traditions that we have developed over the years and also a chance to accommodate changes and new things that reflect the progress in all of us.  Sometime the changes result from deliberate choice and some are imposed on us.

I'm thankful for changes.  Traditionally, I would have used my good camera to take pictures but this time I used my cell phone.  The quality of the pictures would have been better but the spontaneity would not have been there. 

All my children would be home on Thanksgiving but Shannon was not.  However, we were talking to her almost throughout the time we prepared food - just like when we would all be home - through Skype.  We got to see her pet cats while they climbed on her as she talked to us.  My kids are growing more and more independent and slowly developing their own tradition.  On the other hand I too need to slowly release my grip on their schedule. 

We would all sit around a beautifully set table to enjoy the food.  This time we sat on the floor of the family room and ate Thanksgiving dinner while watching The Phantom of the Opera.  We were really casual this year which is more fun and liberating.

I am thankful for tradition.  Tim still grills the turkey.  We still get a huge turkey regardless of the number of people to allow leftovers.  Brahms still helps with making apple pie and mashed potatoes.  Miriam is in charge of the obligatory veggie in the meal.  Our Spiced cranberry sauce and Stuffing with Italian Sausage all remain to be a hit.  They are the simple things that remind us of the occasion and which then connect this year to the next one.  

I thank God for my family.  In the end, however, the most important thing that makes Thanksgiving are the people that gather year after year.  These are the people who share a common connection and understanding of life together.  They are the family who have experienced and acknowledge common blessings.  All else are decorations.  Sometimes we invite people for Thanksgiving, we say, as a gesture of generosity but most often I find it as an obligation to show rather than an act of love.  

Thanksgiving is a recounting of blessings 

in the presence of God - the Giver of all.