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Today, I am lucky to be with my sister and husband in a warm, safe house; we are 3000 miles from the rest of our family, but feel connected thanks to email, phone calls, Facebook.  We’re having a big turkey dinner tomorrow with our Seattle family, and that gives me a rare, special chance to spend today thinking about everything I have to be grateful for, instead of running around checking on the turkey, stuffing, pies.

Today, even if you are running around to check on stuffing and turkey and pies, take a minute for yourself to sit down and think about all you have in your life.  It doesn’t matter what you think about– maybe you are happy that someone else is cooking dinner, or that your aunt is making the pecan pie you love best.  Maybe you’re excited for the buzz and excitement of having a full house of guests battling between watching football or the dog show.  Perhaps you are glad for solitude on a traditionally hectic day.  After several dark holidays (years ago) where I dwelled on the fact that we were so far away from family celebrations, I learned to change my focus and think about all that I am lucky to have, and the holidays are joyous now.  Call me Pollyanna if you will; it won’t be the first time I’ve heard that.

So, today I will be thankful for the chance to make Swedish meatballs with my sister, hopefully giggling and getting as messy as possible through the process.  I will be happy to go out later with her, my husband and the dog for a long, leisurely walk at Discovery, weather permitting, of course.  And I will be excited to check in with family and friends to see how their meals were, who came for dinner, whether they watched football or the parade.  A warm, sincere Happy Thanksgiving wish to you all!