Thanksgiving Wishes

Did you know that in Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 2nd Monday in October? I didn’t know that, so I’m sorry to say I missed the opportunity to wish Canadians a happy day. There’s a lot I don’t know, which comes as no surprise to those who know me, but just learning about the Canadian holiday reminded me of how much we take for granted when it doesn’t directly involve us.

On Thanksgiving, I will feast with my family – I am grateful for the family I have and the food we will share. It will be cold and may even snow that day, but I’ll be indoors, wearing warm clothes, and the heater will be running – I am grateful for the shelter and the chance to weather any storm, and I will call relatives and friends who are celebrating far away to tell them how grateful I am for having them in my life, even when we’re not together.

This will be my first Thanksgiving without my mother, who passed away last April. I can be sad because I miss her, or grateful to have had her; I choose the latter, and I know she would approve.

There is so much to be thankful for. I am thankful that I don’t live in a war torn country, that where I live we have freedom of speech, that during the elections I was allowed to voice my opinions and concerns without fear of repercussion, and that I was able to elect whomever I chose and entrusted our democracy to do the rest.

I am very boring; I am a white woman, married to a white man. But I am grateful to live in a country where I can choose to love someone of a different race, religion, or same gender; of that I am grateful too.

And I am grateful for you. For letting me share my thoughts and for allowing me to have a purpose and a place in your lives, as you have in mine.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and may you always have much to be grateful for.

Love, Peace, Happiness and Gratitude,

Bria