"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."    G.K. Chesterton

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!  It reminds me of the importance of attitude and how thankfulness is best when it is year 'round!   I am thankful for growing up in a family where I did not learn until years later that we were not all "blood" family!  People were welcome and received in our home for Thanksgiving regardless of who they were related to.  There was always enough food- even if there were last minute "family" showing up.  I don't know how that happened but it did!  We did not have a dining room but a big kitchen table.  As big as the kitchen table was it never held the whole crowd.  We would be climbing over people with TV trays in the den and other rooms just to get to the kitchen where we could set our plate.  If you did not like loud crowds and chaos then you probably would not have enjoyed yourself!  I am thankful for the good times and love that was shared along with the good food. 

Times have changed for me, holidays have changed.  Most of my family members have left this world and others have married and moved on to celebrate Thanksgiving around different tables.  I know some families that will be celebrating their first holiday without an important loved one present.  Some have empty nests and their grown children are with their in-laws. Death, divorce, distance of miles and distance of hearts can separate us from physically being with those we love.  Holidays can be hard for some of us when things change and don't remain the same as we have experienced in the past- especially if they were good experiences!  However, we can still choose how we want to live gratefully every day!  We can still celebrate the love we share with the people who are with us now.  We can open our hearts to new people who want to join us at the table or being invited to join others at a table other than our own.  We can even change up the menu or venue and create new memories that may become a "tradition" one day!  Who knows?

Whatever the case, as I prepare for the Thanksgiving Holidays I want to make sure that my favorite decoration of all is in place before the holidays arrive- a thankful heart.  And I'm thinking- low country boil....who knows!  What about you?

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."                                                                                               Melody Beattie