With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the usual frenzy is probably setting in for many of you just as it is for me. There are plans and schedules to be made and followed. When should the turkey go in the oven to be ready by dinnertime but still leave time to cook the sweet potatoes afterwards? Where will out-of-town guests sleep? Have we accounted for guest’s diet restrictions? For many of us, we’ll need to find activities to keep the kids entertained while we’re working in the kitchen and getting the house ready for friends and family. And of course there are other variables that might just throw a big heavy wrench into your plans, like weather conditions that might delay guests coming from a distance, or a sudden rampage of a stomach bug throughout the household, or a furnace dying (it’s already cold in my neck of the woods!), and the list goes on. With all of the chaos leading up to the holiday, it’s easy to lose sight of what Thanksgiving is all about.
But as I was doing my last-minute grocery shopping, a small snippet of a phone conversation I overheard was all the reminder I needed. As I was carefully picking the most perfect apples I could find for my apple pie, I heard a man say, “I’ve had a pretty good life. I never had a lot of money, but I’ve had a good life.” He sounded truly sincere, despite the rasp in his voice, and I couldn’t help lingering there, waiting to hear more of his outspoken gratitude. But he didn’t say anything else, the person on the other end of the phone line still responding. So after a few moments I took my apples and headed for the green beans. As I did, I got a glimpse of the man whose voice I’d heard. He was in a wheelchair, oxygen tubes in his nostrils, smiling and nodding at whatever the other person was saying. I was so humbled, not only by the smile on the face of this man who clearly—and courageously, it seemed—faced health challenges. But also by this timely gift of a reminder that was one more thing for me to be thankful for.
I know from experience that Thanksgiving Day will not go exactly as planned. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be perfect, when there is so much to be thankful for. If you asked me to name everything, I would sum it up by saying, Health, Home, and Heart. Having lost loved ones much too soon, health (my own and my loved ones’) is highest on my list. Without it, nothing else matters. Home is not only a house, but it’s where my family and I share our meals and our time, where we and our precious children sleep in warm beds, safe and sound, and where so many of our memories are made. That’s home. And Heart? Well, I often tell my children that they are my Heart. So when I say I’m thankful for Heart, I’m talking about all the people with whom we’re so fortunate to share our journeys and our love.
When I asked my four-year-old son what he was thankful for, he said, “My Star Wars Millenium Falcon.” His six-year-old brother gasped in shock, then said, “What about Mommy?” Little brother said, “Well, I AM grateful for Mommy, but I’m grateful for my Millenium Falcon, too!” It occurred to me that maybe I should amend my thankfulness mantra. Yes, I’m thankful for Health, Home, Heart, and Honesty 🙂
May you all be blessed with much to be thankful for and also with thankfulness for all of your blessings!
Happy Thanksgiving!
