Gratitude

Yesterday I did my grocery shopping. More than ever, I noticed how kind people were with me and with others. Almost everyone I encountered smiled, and everyone I talked with wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. I wonder whether, in the midst of economic challenges, knowing how many people are losing jobs, money they've invested, and sometimes their homes, we are all the more aware of what we have to be grateful for.

Tomorrow I will roast a turkey, and gather with neighbors and friends to share a holiday meal. Interestingly, we all eat somewhat differently. One friend is a vegetarian, another eats "All American", and I eat no grains and not much in the way of starches. The turkey will have no stuffing, and there will be no pie. Tee will make and eat her favorite vegetarian Mexican soup, Tee and Bill will eat garlic mashed potatoes and home made rolls, Bill and I will eat turkey, and we all will eat salad, asparagus and acai sorbet that is to die for. What we will have in common is a our friendship and our gratitude.

Somehow I am reminded of the first turkey I roasted. I was in my second year of law school, married less than a year, and my parents came to visit in St. Louis for Thanksgiving. I had not used the oven yet, and did not realize that the thermostat didn't work. Our turkey was done in half the time! Remarkably, it was one of the best turkeys I have eaten. When we took it out of the oven, we scrambled to finish fixing the rest of the meal, and had a good time together.

I was grateful that the turkey turned out despite the faulty thermostat, grateful for family, and grateful for the wonderful man I had married (later we divorced, not having had the skills to get through the rough times . . . and now we are just friends).

Gratitude is what this holiday is all about. I am grateful for a safe and comfortable place to live, for family and friends, for physical healing (I have some of the best doctors I know of), and for all that I have learned in my life. I am especially grateful to be doing the work that I was born to do: healing and writing.

Happy Thanksgiving!