Thanks Giving

Pumpkins of all sizes

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Hugs from Grandpa and Grandma

Whipped cream

A handprint made into a colorful fat turkey.

Books showing pilgrims, boats, and Native Americans.

Snoopy flying high over Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Butter!

Tablecloth

Family

Prayers

Gratitude

Turkey

Cranberries

Wishbone

A table rich with turkey and all the fixings.

People with full bellies lounging in the living room, watching a football game.

Creamy pumpkin pie

Gooey pecan pie

Sweet apple pie

Crisp autumn weather

A warm, tiny, one-room cabin filled with books and candlelight.

Bundling up with my sweetie and going for a snow walk, hand in hand.

Concentrating over a game of Rummikub.

Images of Thanksgiving Days past and present—grade school, elementary school, as a teenager, and as an adult—shift through my mind like sand through a child's hands. Each memory carries something different: warmth, loneliness, worry, kindness, grief, love.

As a child, Thanksgiving Day was simple, filled with pilgrim hats made of newspaper and hands full of paint from making the traditional handprint turkeys. But as the years stack up and my mind expands with history, Thanksgiving changes. Nothing seems to stay the same.

Family dynamics change. People move or take jobs that make them unable to attend a family gathering. Other people die.

So it’s best if I break it down into thanks and giving. This Thursday I’ll be saying thank you for many things, as I give my time, energy, and love to my family.