Another trip around the sun and here I am, excited for another Thanksgiving Day. I love this time of year. I love the preparation, the hunkering down, the deep sigh as you cozy up your home and wait for winter to really settle in. I love to decorate my house for this holiday (including a Thanksgiving tree!) and I love the sights and smells that come from my kitchen – homemade pumpkin pie, baked squash, yummy soups. It’s the warmest, snuggliest, most peaceful holiday.
So what makes my thankful list this year? I think I am most thankful for lessons learned this year. I wasn’t ready last year to learn lessons or even acknowledge they were out there. But slowly, surely over the last year I have learned a lot about myself as a wife, mother, and friend. I’ve laid plain what was on my mind and in my heart and found that I am not alone. I have developed some amazing friendships, rekindled some, and nurtured others. I am surrounded by the most beautiful people and I am honored and grateful that they choose to call me friend.
My girl is growing – no – thriving. She’s sparkling again and shining. She’s curious and busy and friendly and smiley. She makes me laugh every day and sometimes I cry, overwhelmed by the shear joy of having her near me. She’s just a bundle of light.
We’ve been the recipients of incredible generosity this year. I cannot believe what has been bestowed on us and it lifted a weight from our shoulders we didn’t even know we had. The future seems so much more manageable and we embrace it bravely, ready to take what life has yet to bring us.
I’m back to work and loving it. So thankful that a former coworker thought of me when she decided to fulfill her life-long dream of owning a salon and spa. I work with some truly amazing women and I am grateful to be back at work doing what I love. The chance to bring relief and comfort to my clients is a gift.
I wish you and your families a wonderful, peaceful, blessed Thanksgiving. And from one of my favorite prayers, which I think sums up my feelings exactly:
My God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire! What tongue can voice my thanks to Thee?
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