To be grateful

The concept of Thanksgiving Day may be hokey and may promote an outright lie (that the Puritan pilgrims were inordinately generous with the indigenous peoples they found -- for the true story, read Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick). But I love the idea of devoting a day to being grateful. There is a special humility in thankfulness that is worth cultivating. (Of course, I also don't mind all the turkey and the mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce and the stuffing and the pumpkin pie...)

This year, I miss my abuela who, when she would no longer leave her house to celebrate the day with us, always expected us to bring her some dark turkey meat with all the trimmings. I will miss my family, all of whose members are scattered far and wide, and I will miss cooking up a storm with my sister, as we did the first year my husband and I had arrived in Ohio. During that Thanksgiving, my nieces and nephew played outside in the mountains of dry leaves in 73-degree weather and then they sang for us after dinner. It was unforgettable. (That was also the Thanksgiving that I caught pneumonia and had to send my sister and the kids back to Maryland for fear they would catch it!).

This Thanksgiving my new house will be quiet and empty, there will be no delicious smells coming from my oven or stove nor will there be boisterous nieces and nephews running around the house, chasing the cats and being chased by Lizzy. Instead, we will go to the home of friends and appreciate their generosity in including us into their family for this day.

This Thanksgiving I am grateful for it all, the good and the bad, the easy and the difficult, the happy and the sad. Without shadow, the light wouldn't seem as bright.

This Thanksgiving I am fully grateful for the life I am privileged to live. I'm especially thankful for my parents, my siblings and their luminous families, the good friends I have had for many years and those who are newer in my life, and for my furry children. I am also grateful for my beloved profession, for my students, for my colleagues, for the place where I live and work.

Especially, I give thanks for the man, who, more than 15 years ago, decided to cast his fortune with mine and who has kept his vows, through thick and very, very thin, and with whom I still can laugh and be unreservedly myself, which is mostly a good thing but sometimes not so much. A man whom I admire and respect and love even more deeply than when we first got married.

Ultimately, I am grateful for all the love there is in my life. For the love I receive and the love I am able to give. This is a true privilege and a blessing and I am humbly thankful for it all.