Giving Thanks and Thanksgiving

For many of us, this holiday represents many memories of all that we are thankful for in our lives - a time to truly reflect upon our blessings. Interestingly, my younger daughter, Ashley, has always made sure that Thanksgiving maintained its character of being an important holiday needing its place BEFORE beginning the Christmas commercialism. She even tweeted and snap-chatted about how disgusting it was to have stores opening at 6pm on Thanksgiving! Go Ash! For our family, this was a time to create new traditions, keeping the importance of fond memories in tact with some replication. In fact, my older daughter, Lindsay, chose to be with our family instead of her boyfriend's once again, given the sensitivity of losing her Gram last year, my move from our home of over 22 years, and the Summer/Fall challenges with my health. For me, I want my girls to choose what they want and need for themselves because this was not how I grew up. While I so appreciate many of the ways that my parents raised me, as for all of us, there are blessings and curses! Being able to choose was not an option, thus I never truly learned what I want, need, nor what really makes me tick - not until very recently. This holiday was beautiful in so many ways. I prepared the traditional meal, as you will see in Lindsay's plate - organic chicken (but, we'll pretend that it is turkey!), bread stuffing (Mom's recipe with a few edits!), oven roasted butternut squash and turnip (a little different from the mashed, but delicious!), green beans almondine, homemade cranberry sauce (sweetened with stevia instead of sugar)and real gravy from the pan-drippings. We enjoyed our meal, talked, reminisced and chose to go the new Hunger Games movie since Dad was sleeping over and he loves movies. I walked with Tammie for some fresh air and to feel the calm energy of the ocean - one of my daily grounding rituals. The interesting thing is that so many opt out of the exercise piece on this day, and yet, the physical activity offers a re-set, a grounding and an opportunity to digest - in more ways than one. We digest our food physically and we digest our emotions with our breath and being in touch with nature. It was so very special to share this time with my Dad and my girls and I remain thankful for the love that we share. I also thank my Mom, who is smiling down on us all as she shares her spirit with us. Thank you Mom! With love and gratitude, Julie