I’m a writer, not a talker. While my family and friends would dispute that statement, it’s true when it comes to moments requiring profound insights, wisdom sharing, or witty comebacks. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, I become tongue-tied when it’s time to say what I am thankful for. In fact, no one in my family is very good at expressing thanks on command in front of the turkey.

But I am profoundly thankful.

“I am grateful for what I am and have.”—Henry David Thoreau 

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, 1914,
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe
Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts

I look back on my childhood and remember countless Thanksgiving Days when we needed two or three tables to accommodate the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who came together.

This year, we have only four people around our table. But one of those people is my feisty, independent 93-year-old mother. I am so thankful to have her with me for so many years. As an only child, I often felt that I had too much motherly attention. But I now know you can never have too much love.

She taught me to believe in myself and to go after what I wanted. She once told me she wanted to be a writer. She said she won a pencil for a story she wrote in grade school. But her parents were Italian immigrants who struggled to put food on the table each day. My mom and her sisters had to leave school so they could work in the fields as day laborers.

I am who I am today in large part because of my mother.

“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.”—Maya Angelou 

Being “present” can be difficult. We have so many things competing for our attention. I sometimes find myself scanning e-mail or sorting mail while I am on the phone. The next thing I know, the conversation has ended, and I have no idea what we discussed. The same thing can happen in face-to-face conversations. I’m so busy thinking up how I will respond, I’m not fully listening to the person in front of me.

For the coming year, I will work to be more present to and thankful for every person I meet each day.

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.”–Native American Proverb

This profound Native American saying seems particularly apt. The first day of thanksgiving in America took place in the autumn of 1621 when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag joined to celebrate the colony’s first successful harvest. Later, President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

We don’t know what life will bring us. So often we fear the future and possible illnesses, losses, and disasters. How much easier it becomes to live each day when we remember that the future also holds unknown blessings. For this, and more, we should be grateful.

What are you thankful for?

Who are you thankful for?

Say thank you to someone special today. Tell them exactly why you are grateful to have them in your life.