Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving, the day where we fondly remember a time when people reached out to others in their time of need and at a later date, those same people bit the hand that fed them.  But that’s another story for another time.  As the story goes, after a rough first winter in the new land, the Pilgrims were approached by the native Americans who lived in that area where they taught these new citizens how to plant, fish and other things to keep them alive.  The harvest that fall was a great cause for celebration and the idea of sharing a feast has continued to this day, becoming an official holiday during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.  One whole day to remind us to be thankful.

Our family is no different.  Seven of us rode in close proximity in a rental van roughly  730 miles one way to celebrate the holiday with extended family, something we’ve been looking forward to for some time.  We will celebrate tomorrow with an overabundance of wonderful food, by playing football outside, watching football inside and playing games I’m sure, but will we actually take time to give thanks?

I have taken the last 24 hours to really soak in the relationships that have grown and developed over the last 40 years.  My friendship with and love for my husband’s family has grown immensely, and as we travel, I watch my sons laughing together hysterically in the van over old memories from their childhood and cat videos on YouTube.  I see the loving relationship between my son and daughter-in-love, and their developing relationship with their adopted son and now another foster son and I am so proud of them all.

As the matriarch of my little multigenerational family I watch, and am so thankful, thankful that God could take me as a complete diamond in the rough and create such a beautiful family.  Our little family is not perfect but we share life and love despite those imperfections and I am grateful.  My kids are much better parents than I ever was or ever will be.  They seem to have found a balance already that I am still not able to achieve, and while they’re learning, like all new parents do, to decide on boundaries and consistency, they are working together as a team.

I listened to my middle son having an intellectual conversation with my new grandson.  My son who never talks down to kids but always treats them with respect as people.  He listens to them like he never listened to us (ha!) and observing their dialog was fascinating, again watching that relationship between uncle and nephew blossom.  And I am grateful.

I hear the laughter over bad dad jokes, bad Thanksgiving jokes, shared meals, playing in the pool, playing games and telling stories.  I am grateful for the relationship between my youngest and middle son.  While very different in some ways, they are like two peas in a pod in others.  They sat in the van today, singing songs from old cartoons they remembered from their childhood and I marveled at how well they sing together and what good friends they are.  They chose not to be a part of music as a career, but it does my heart good to know they can still converse through music.

So, the fact is, I can see these relationships any day of the week, if I just chose to look.  I need to put down my devices and just enjoy watching the love and laughter and allow myself to revel in the joy that fills my heart, just aware of how thankful I am for these little blessings.  It’s not earth shattering, it’s just life, but how often do we allow life to get away from us instead of jumping into the middle of it?  What can we do to get ourselves in a Thanksgiving state of mind every day?

I’m thinking that tomorrow I’m going to eat some great food, give thanks for the people who prepared it and go out to play some football with the grandkids, perhaps taking a few pictures but remembering to participate in the day and not let it get away from me.  Don’t let Thanksgiving just become a family routine, allow it to become a lifestyle.  We have so much to be thankful for.