Giving Thanks

Yesterday on Thanksgiving eve at work, many customers wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. Sometimes they said it first, other times out of obligation, I said it first. Due to the busy-ness of the day and other events, I wasn't really in the mood to offer happy wishes.

As Murphy's Law would have it, I wished someone a happy Thanksgiving and as soon as the words were out of my mouth, she could tell that I was floundering for what else to say under the conditions. She graciously rescued me and said, "Yes, it's going to be a tough couple of months but I'm trying to get through. I'm working tomorrow." She had tragically lost her teenage son a few months ago.

The last customer of the day had lost the love of his life last year. They had a love so strong and visible. I saw it every time they came in together. She was much younger, and he never expected her to go first. He still honors her memory every day.  He is coping but he misses her dearly.

This puts it all in prospective. As most of us are running around cleaning, cooking and preparing to sit at our annual feast, the holiday just makes the lonely more lonely, the ungrateful more ungrateful and the hurt, hurt more. My mother knows pain around the holidays. She has always tried to emphasize, knowing that pain will come at times, 'It's just another day of the year.'

We can still celebrate but in reality, we should be celebrating and thankful every day. We never know what holiday will be our last or even what day. Let your words that are spoken leave you with no regrets. Let your actions echo what words can't say. Greatest of all, be thankful to God every day for the blessings. Treasure friends and family and your own precious life.

May not only your Thanksgiving be blessed but tomorrow and the next day and the next.