Gratitude

It's Thanksgiving Day in less than one hour. I have no real reason for being awake. I do not host this holiday. The sole side dish I, as a dutiful guest, am responsible for can be easily made anytime tomorrow afternoon.
Yet I feel compelled to write and give thanks for my many blessings. I truly feel so grateful tonight, and in some ways, that is surprising. Tomorrow will be unlike any Thanksgiving my family has had in as long as I can remember. We are not engaging in the usual routine this year, and that is incredibly sad for so many reasons. But none of those reasons is permanent, so there is hope that next year might return to normal.
In the meantime, we are blessed to share the day with the dearest of friends ~ the kind of people that exemplify true friendship, the kind of friends that feel like family. My husband and I will be there with our two beautiful and special children, and his amazing parents. And, as I said to my wonderful husband earlier this evening, that is a lot more than a lot of people have.
Maybe I am feeling Lifetime-movie-level of emotional because of my period. Maybe it's just the start of the holiday season. Maybe it's creeping closer and closer to 40. Whatever it is, I took note tonight of how warm and content I felt, while doing nothing more than sitting in the living room with hubby and kids. The same monotony that can drive me mad on any given day was deeply comforting tonight. (Actually, that is probably a precious lesson from the Leaches, thank you Mary and Jackson and all of you ~ those garbage trucks are on the road every day : )
So I sit here typing in my happy home, and a tear taps the desk every so often, as my chest swells with appreciation for all that I have. I have a family and friends and my health, food to eat and a house and a car. That house is not the biggest in the neighborhood, and I often say that we must be the last family in suburbia with only one car, but I am blessed not to care about those kinds of things. What a curse it must be to constantly look at what everyone else has and want more. I feel so fortunate to value the things that tend to be intangible rather than material. After all, that house is so much larger than any I ever thought I would live in, and I truly love our car. Money is not the only thing that makes people rich.
Maybe I will buy a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau tomorrow. Instead of feeling sad that I didn't get it this year because our plans are different, I think I'll enjoy the bottle with my husband and silently toast Mark and Becky and Sel et Poivre and this very same night so many (too many) years ago when I first learned about "Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!" and saw the parade balloons being blown up for the first time.
I am blessed with a wonderful life ~ warts and all. And I am so thankful that I know enough to be thankful for it. Wishing everyone everywhere a happy Thanksgiving.