Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. No gifts are required and I get to enjoy a special meal that’s only around once a year.
It’s not about the best lights display in the neighborhood or worrying about “giving an even amount of gifts” to each kid or finding that “perfect thing” for someone. Thanksgiving’s about family and friends. It’s about gratitude and fellowship. It’s the perfect holiday.
I’m so very grateful this year. Our family dealership weathered the Covid lockdown and we have almost as many employees as we did pre-Covid. The kids are tolerating their new charter cyber school and I’m somehow managing to grow Forty Young while they learn from home. We also got Rusty, the best darn “Covid puppy” in the world. We have our health and we have each other. We’ve weathered 2020, a year that’ll probably go down in history as one of the most challenging of our lifetimes.
The future is uncertain but I’m filled with hope, even this year. That’s what I love about the beginning of the holiday season. The new year’s around the corner and this year I think we’re all ready to (gratefully) leave 2020 in the rear view mirror and look forward.
Thanksgiving may or may not look different for you this year. I’m a “live and let live” kind of person. Do what you and your family feel comfortable doing. I’m the boss of me and my family and you’re the boss of you and yours.
As we kick off this holiday season, I encourage everyone to refrain from judgement. Not every family operates, looks or acts just like yours. I know for my family (and extended family), we’ve decided that family and being together reigns superior over anything else. It’s known that we will not and have not ever blamed another family member for getting us ill. We all know the risks and have collectively decided that we’ll gather if everyone is healthy and feeling well. This has become a core value of our family.
We don’t stand in judgement of other families and what they do. Please respect others’ choices, as others respect your family’s decisions.
Even so, Thanksgiving will be different for us this year. But the reason is that we’ll be celebrating at our new house in Delray Beach, Florida! We’ve been going to my aunt’s house for decades at this point, but it’s always been every other year. This year’s an “off” year so we get to spend it in Florida. Rob’s mom is coming over from Naples and we’ll be cooking the full Thanksgiving spread.
Spend the day with who you want. Wear what you want. Who says you have to dress up? Order food if you want or cook to your heart’s content. Holidays are more than the food and pomp and circumstance. For me it’s about celebrating another year coming to a close and the love and fellowship of friends and family.
I wish you all the most amazing Thanksgiving to you and yours.
