The giving of many thanks

So, was your Thanksgiving thanks-filled? I absolutely adore the minutes after everyone sits down to enjoy a thanksgiving feast and family members take their turns offering up what they are most grateful for.

I cherish these moments because they remind you what make your loved ones tick; I cling to their words because our daily lives often seem more filled with the grumblings within and without than the unadulterated gratefulness that is infinitely more becoming.

I love the giving of thanks.

I also love the sight of my main squeeze cooking up a juicy turkey and carving it for his family. (He's the one smiling; his brother is the one hiding!) I enjoyed meeting David's mother and father, and the sister and niece I also met for the first time this weekend. David's nearest brother and his family are thoughtful, intentional and interesting. And I look forward to meeting his other brother's family who lives out West someday in the future.

We also traveled to my sister Julie's house for another celebration on Saturday; the food was amazing, the fellowship even better.

I missed dad this weekend (as I imagine most of you missed a loved one who has passed on), and I took Shakespeare's words to heart: "He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend." And so on Thanksgiving Day, after the family had left, and David and I sat together, the tears flowed.

Though the pain over the wrongness of our separation cut through my heart, the sobs also reminded me of the gift of dad's presence in my life for over 34 years. And the hope-filled assurance that I will see him again, when all wrong is made so very right.

Thank you, lover of my soul, for this deep assurance. Thank you for life, love, and even loss--for it reminds me of the gifts of life and love. I am thankful, even for the opportunity to miss these gifts, and to long for them all the more.