Make Memories

Make the kind of memories that you can sit by like a warm fire.

Gratitude is an attitude that is cultivated. If you need to start by making lists, go ahead. There's no wrong or right way to be thankful.

Sometimes it's the big things I'm grateful for--my husband who says he loves me in between talking in his monster-truck voice and pestering me for pancakes when I'm trying to write.

Other times it's the little things, like that last roll of toilet paper tucked behind the spare towel in the sink cupboard when I forgot to pick up more in town.

Always, I'm grateful for the memories I've made with my children at the Thanksgiving holiday. It's a collective effort, something we all have contributed to. And it's been enhanced by the years when the Hub's sister drove up snowy roads from Kansas to Minnesota with our nieces and nephews. Or the years that we had new friends of the children around the table, and gained a son-in-law and his family.

Elmira Pond has smelled the aromas of the turkey and sides wafting from the house over several Thanksgivings now. We have neighbors--new friends--coming over in a few days.

For the first time in 26 years, we will not have any of our three children at the table. But it's okay. It makes me grateful for extra turkey and pumpkin pie!

And, it makes my thankful for those warm memories that I can light up in my heart and still enjoy. I'm happy for my children who have strong wings to fly so far from the nest. I'm happy for our memories of Thanksgivings past and happy for the ones to come.