happy thanksgiving

A few trees still have their leaves today. The brilliant red of the Japanese maple outside my kitchen window never fails to catch my eye when I’m in the kitchen area of our house.

Today is a Thanksgiving Day I could not have imagined or anticipated. March 5, 2020 will always be the day that marks the before and after of our lives.

Today I am reminded as folks talk about their blessings that for us, God revealed many blessings in our tragedy.

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

Our neighbors, our school family, and our parish rallied around us to help us prepare for John’s funeral, for the luncheon afterward, and for many meals for weeks afterward even though we were all in the middle of a quarantine. We reconnected with family members. We spent hours walking and talking with people who just wanted to surround us with love.

John’s death sent us down a different path for our family. None of us could have anticipated leaving Pennsylvania for a new home in Virginia and the new friends we would make. Or, the opportunity to grow closer with family already in the area. Yet, when the job offer came for my husband, I knew and he knew this was God’s plan for us.

Today, I am grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with most of my children, though my oldest son remains in Pennsylvania for the holiday. We also have a new furry family member, Winston, an English lab who joined us in January of this year and is my daily walking companion. My husband and I started a new tradition this year of walking together in a local Turkey Trot. My husband and my second son are chefs-in-residence for Thanksgiving dinner. I have found a new wonderful group of friends through a local food bank ministry. We’re also building community through our parish.

I am reminded daily to look for the good, to see the blessings in the ordinary. I am reminded there is much joy to experience. We simply need to open our hearts and minds to the joy in our lives.