Thanksgiving — A Year ‘Round Affair

One late October morning, my husband and I began planning our family Thanksgiving. “This year, let’s do something different,” I said.

“How about having dinner at the cottage?” Charles suggested. “Of course it’ll mean more work.”

It was true our newly acquired mountain hideaway didn’t have all the conveniences of our city apartment––like a dishwasher and a reliable oven and a big table, but no problem, I mused, neither did the pilgrims.

“Let’s do it,” I said.

On Thanksgiving morning my husband and I arrived ahead of the rest of the family and set out a few surprises. We filled colored lunch bags with a variety of treats–chewing gum, nuts, raisins, coins, travel-sized toiletries, small toys for the younger ones, then tied them with bright string, and hung them from the log beams in the living room. We also attached a personal ‘thank you’ note to each one–expressing our love and gratitude.

When everyone gathered, we sat in a circle by the fire, sipped sparkling cider, talked and prayed and shared our potluck dinner and the surprise bags. Then each person, including the youngest, took a turn sharing the blessings they were grateful for. What a special and revealing time that was.

“It was truly a great day!” my husband mused thoughtfully as we packed the car the next morning. “I wish this feeling of gratitude and love could last all year.”

“It can,” I said. “We made this day special by simply choosing to. What’s to stop us from making every day just as special?”

It was then that we decided to make a point of keeping the spirit of Thanksgiving all year round. We weren’t exactly certain how we’d do it, but we wanted to try.

While driving home, we realized more clearly than ever that it wasn’t the food, or the fire, the games or the mountain cabin that had made Thanksgiving special. It was the people––each one so dear and unique.

As we talked on, we began recalling other people in our lives for whom we were thankful––many we hadn’t thought of or talked about in years. My fourth grade teacher whom I adored at the time, a favorite aunt I hadn’t seen in nearly thirty years, a man who had given my husband a job when he most needed one.

We were grateful to each one of these precious people–but did they know it? Or had we kept our feelings inside? Had we ever really said, “Thank you? You’re important to me.” Not often enough, we realized.

Some of these people are now long gone, but there were many more––alive and active in our lives at that moment. We realized it wasn’t too late to start right where we were. And so we decided then and there to phone more often, stop by and visit, tuck a note under a door, drop a card in the mail. It required so little.

One day Charles left a single rose at the doorstep of a neighbor––his “thank you” for bringing in our mail while we were away.

Another time we said ‘thank you’ by sharing a favorite recipe (including a sample!) with an elderly friend who lives alone.

While Charles was in real estate, he sent a “thank you” bouquet of flowers to the agent who sold his latest listing.

When he was in customer service at Nordstrom he often gave a small box of candy to clients who had become friends.

And when he received word that his former college roommate had a terminal illness, he phoned him in Guam to thank him for all he had meant to him during their years together.

One friend told me that she writes the words “thank you” under her signature line on her checks––a nice way to acknowledge organizations and individuals who serve her in some way.

Reaching out to others in these and other ways has not only opened us anew to the bounty in our own lives, but to the continuous bounty of God Himself, the one from whom all blessings flow.