Thanksgiving

Love and gratitude

Hello, friends,

I hope your holiday weekend has been restful, joyful, and full of good food, quality time with family and friends, laughter and love, and lots of gratitude.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays (second only to Christmas), partly because I think focusing on what we have to be thankful for is so important and fulfilling. I always enjoy the day, but this Thanksgiving might go down as one of the best.

There wasn’t anything notably different about it—what made it extra special is what was happening inside me. This year more than ever before, I was aware of the impermanence of everything, and while in the past, that might have made it harder for me to enjoy the day, this year it made me appreciate it even more.

I’ve talked about Buddhist death meditation before, and I was thinking about it again on Thursday. I understand that things are always changing and nothing lasts forever. As I looked around our group, it hit home more viscerally that nothing is guaranteed. From Ellie, the youngest at 13, to my grandfather, the oldest at 92, and all of us (including me) in between, none of us can promise that we’ll be here next Thanksgiving. But we were together this year.

Before we went to my aunt’s home to celebrate, as I did my morning meditation and focused on my breath, I imagined breathing in the love for me of everyone who would be gathered for the day, and I imagined breathing out my love for them. Once dinner was served and everyone was enjoying the meal, I looked around slowly and spent a moment watching each person there, drinking in their presence and soaking up the blessing of them being there with me in that moment.

Through my meditation practice, I’ve become much more accepting of the fact that life is constantly changing. I know there will come a Thanksgiving when the makeup around the table looks different. I don’t know exactly how it will change or when, but I know it will. But rather than making me sad, this understanding makes me supremely grateful for every moment, every Thanksgiving, that I have with the people I love.

Maybe it was partly because I was experiencing the day through this lens, but everything about the day seemed extra lovely. The food is always delicious, but I savored each bite more than usual, and the consensus among the group was that many dishes were especially good this year.

Sometimes it’s hard to find ways for everyone, spanning such a wide age range, to connect, but there was a delightful stretch of time when Ellie was talking about rowing, and it warmed my heart to see how engaged everyone, especially my grandfather, was in learning more about the sport and how happy Ellie was to get to share more about something they love.

And when we left, we saw the most beautiful sunset as we drove back to my parents’ house. It was the perfect way to cap off a wonderful day, and it made my heart expand that much more. My parents and I spent the evening talking about what a wonderful day it had been, which just prolonged the joy that much longer.

So, while I don’t know what next Thanksgiving will look like—because I don’t know—I am immensely grateful that this Thanksgiving was full of love and engendered happy memories I will hold onto no matter what the future brings.

Warmly,

Brie

P.S. What was your favorite part of your celebration?