As Thanksgiving week rolls around and I see pictures of plump turkeys all around, I am struck by how close to the end of the year we are. Over the past few years, Thanksgiving has come to mean family and food to me as much as it does to my neighbors next door. While I don’t really make turkey or cranberry sauce or even the quintessential pumpkin pie, I try and have friends and family over for dinner. I also look at this time of the year for reflecting on the year gone past.

To me it is a time to count my blessings. To look behind and be thankful for everything. The good and the bad for without the sorrows, I will not know to appreciate the joys. This is also the time of the year when memories of my dad swirl around me. I relive the hospital days. I break down a bit but in all I rewind and enjoy the happiness of my childhood. A time of carefree abandon made possible because appa and amma carried our burdens for us.

So, today I want to say this aloud. I am thankful to my parents for just being. For in just being they raised me to be someone cognizant of the things I have been blessed with. I am thankful to my siblings. They are by extension my children. I am thankful to my spouse. For without him, my life would have very less meaning. I am thankful to my friends in real life and online. For without them, I would not be me. I am thankful to my employer. For finally I have found a place where I feel at home. I am thankful for my home. For it is my sanctuary.

A friend of mine forwarded this early morning and I enjoyed it so much that I had to share. So here goes.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

Family Feelings Happiness Life Memories Musings reflections Musings Reflections Thanksgiving