As Thanksgiving Day approaches my feelings about the celebrations surrounding it are very different than they have been in the past.  I have come to understand the history I was taught surrounding this day is a bit skewed, having been presented from a very narrow point of view.  A view that represented a small portion of the people inhabiting this place we call America and while it may be how some experienced their arrival and celebration of this new world, it is not representative of all the inhabitants nor even the majority.  And so I question, what does Thanksgiving Day mean for me this year, a year in which the world I once knew no longer exists?

Is it a day to be celebrated?  Is it a day to remember and hold dear?  Or is it a day like any other day with no special meaning or memories to treasure?  These are the questions I have been asking as I am troubled about honoring a past that is mired in half truths and omissions.  A past that has been recorded by those in power and most often written as they wish to portray it and not necessarily as it unfolded for many other people. 

And yet I wonder, do I dishonor those that came before me by not acknowledging their experience or do I dishonor those that had no say by following tradition?  Neither way feels honest and true so I will still remember the stories, tempered with the realization they are only part of the narrative and that there were other experiences that have not been told.  I will remember but I will not celebrate those stories.  Instead I will choose to honor the day as a day of simple gratitude.  To give thanks with a different perspective from how I have in the past.  It will not be the Pilgrims and the Mayflower nor it will be friendships made with Indians that were perhaps forged more out of desperation than kindness that I memorialize. Rather, it will be all that I am thankful for.   It will be a day that I will revel in finding joy in the simplest of things.  It will be a day to rejoice in the present moment and honor it for the gift it is. It will be a day to celebrate finding peace and contentment with all that I have and have been given in this life, for I am truly blessed beyond measure to experience  this world.  

I hope you dear friend will find peace and joy as well no matter how you choose to honor all those before us and celebrate Thanksgiving Day this week.  ~♥~

Blessed~

A healthy family

Warm home 

Plenty of food

A job

A sweet granddaughter who teaches me so much

The beautiful gum tree in our yard that is parading its fall foliage

Friendly and kind neighbors

Clean air

Birdsong in the morning

The sound of ocean music as I visit the beach

The shade from our oak trees in the yard

This day…