Reason to be grateful

There is no question that Thanksgiving is, and has always been, my favorite holiday.  Part of that, I think, is because it is such a simple holiday.  We gather family and friends, we have a lovely meal and we celebrate being together.  There’s no religious observance involved, there’s no expectation of things like birthday cakes and gifts.  It is just family, and food, plain and simple. I also have to confess that I enjoy preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  While there are certain items that are givens for my family, like turkey and cranberry apple casserole, everything else is open to change.  And change it I do.  I scour magazines and websites, and I develop my own list of new things to make—some of which, I confess, are successful and others not so much.  My children would be the first to tell you “Enjoy it now. She will never make it again” and that is very close to the truth.

As I get busy with planning menus, writing shopping lists and having my annual internal debate about the acceptability of paper plates, I have to remind myself, as I am doing this year, that Thanksgiving is far more than just the food or the football.  It’s about gratitude.  It’s about appreciating all that we have and appreciating one another.

The world feels very unsettled right now, in so many ways.  From the political scene to the weather, uncertainty has become our standard.  That lack of certainty also leads to a sense of being “out of balance,” not secure in things we have taken for granted.  It’s a reminder, I think, that life is not a journey over solid ground, as we lull ourselves into believing. There are potholes and pitfalls, there ae forks in the road and there is, all too often, quicksand.

With our elders, as with our own families, we are working to bring the emphasis back to all that for which we are grateful.  We’re putting up “gratitude trees” on our campuses and giving everyone, staff, elders and visitors alike, a chance to fill the branches of the tree with messages of gratitude.  Combining all of those notes, tied to the trees like autumn leaves, will remind us of all that we appreciate.  It feels like a source of light, of positive energy, of the right message for the season.

What if, for one moment, gratitude became stronger than anger? What if appreciation became louder than hate? What if warmth replaced contact and gentle words won out over violence? Maybe that’s a dream of utopia, but maybe, just maybe, finding our own gratitude is the first step.