Pumpkin and cranberries to name a few
A day of thanks... a life of gratitude. I like that there is a day that is dedicated to such thoughts. Moving from the assumption of one's life to the reflection of all it has been and could be yet is something I've been contemplating today. LIfe is wonderful and meant to be enjoyed. I hope to be able to remember that every day. To put that thought into the form of an affirmation, "I am always grateful for the people I have known, the life that I've been given and the day that presents itself to me today."
I guess it started with some words from an old friend. Then as one recollection moved to another and another, I found myself receptive to nostalgia. Throw in some ancient music and the making of foods that scream of past holidays and here I am. surrounded in memories of 50 years of Thanksgivings. Those of a child as I sat with people I'd hardly have the opportunity to ever know before they left me forever. The adolescent years where I took those things for granted. The series of unique celebrations as they moved from celebrations with family to dinners with friends in all those different venues that are now my past experiences. I find it is one day of each of those years that serves as a reminder of where I was and who I was close to.
30 years or so ago, the 4th Thursday of November started to have a new core of participants. Children were added to the cast as the years moved forward. What I'm amazed of as I contemplate this day, is how it was a constant throughout all of those years. Different than other holidays, it is more like a poem that takes new meanings with each reading. In the years that follow, some of those children will have children of their own. As some chairs go vacant, others will take their places, but all of those guests will be remembered, Being recalled in conversations or finding their voices in the others who they shaped, formed and shared of themselves. I am humbled by the understanding that who I am today is as much of a mixture of all those banquets as anything else in my life.
A day of thanks and a day of gratitude. A day of music and a day of food and friends. A day of remembrance and a day of missing all those in our lives who are no longer with us, but who will always be a part of our lives.
As long as there is music I will miss you.
Happy Thanksgiving
A little ancient music
I guess it started with some words from an old friend. Then as one recollection moved to another and another, I found myself receptive to nostalgia. Throw in some ancient music and the making of foods that scream of past holidays and here I am. surrounded in memories of 50 years of Thanksgivings. Those of a child as I sat with people I'd hardly have the opportunity to ever know before they left me forever. The adolescent years where I took those things for granted. The series of unique celebrations as they moved from celebrations with family to dinners with friends in all those different venues that are now my past experiences. I find it is one day of each of those years that serves as a reminder of where I was and who I was close to.
30 years or so ago, the 4th Thursday of November started to have a new core of participants. Children were added to the cast as the years moved forward. What I'm amazed of as I contemplate this day, is how it was a constant throughout all of those years. Different than other holidays, it is more like a poem that takes new meanings with each reading. In the years that follow, some of those children will have children of their own. As some chairs go vacant, others will take their places, but all of those guests will be remembered, Being recalled in conversations or finding their voices in the others who they shaped, formed and shared of themselves. I am humbled by the understanding that who I am today is as much of a mixture of all those banquets as anything else in my life.
A day of thanks and a day of gratitude. A day of music and a day of food and friends. A day of remembrance and a day of missing all those in our lives who are no longer with us, but who will always be a part of our lives.
As long as there is music I will miss you.
Happy Thanksgiving
A little ancient music
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