Thanksgiving 2020...

 

Hi!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canucks!

With this stubborn virus still circulating, this holiday, like everything else during 2020, looks a bit different this year. 

Celebrating safely requires a bit of creativity.

So, this year, it's a Thanksgiving wiener roast! Outside, bonfire, distanced. Nothing fancy. roasting hotdogs, ham and brown beans in slow-cookers, broccoli salad, and cheesecake. Not everyone could come, but we do what we can, always.

There, of course, is no denying that this year continues to throw challenges in the mix without discretion. 

It's requiring patience, resourcefulness, ingenuity, and more types of discomfort than we knew existed. It's scary as hell and can be overwhelming more days than not.

Through all of it, the things to be thankful for seem to take to the shadows, they become a bit harder to find, a bit harder to feel.

We still need to find them. We still need to celebrate them. Even if it's hard. Even if it's in a very different way. 

We are very lucky. I know that. 

There are so many facing evictions, long-term unemployment, food insecurity, monstrous hospital bills, lack of decent medical care in all its forms. 

Where you happen to live makes way more of a difference than it should. 

Everyone is tired of it. Unfortunately, the virus doesn't care.

Let's continue to lift each other over the hardest bits. Let's put others' safety before our comfort. Let's continue to adapt, continue to be willing to roll with new information as we get it, and follow the science. It may not seem like much, but it's everything. 

So for now, today, I'm pulling from the shadows.

I'm so thankful for my amazing husband, my incredible kids, their husbands, partners, and friends, my crazy huge family, and, last but absolutely not least, my grandbabies. 

I'm thankful that where we live, our leaders have followed the experts, and in doing so, have kept our systems from becoming overwhelmed. 

I'm thankful.

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May we all find our way through the shadows pulling into the light what makes us sing.

May we continue to find ways to put smiles on those who need them most, happiness can still be a thing.

May we find a way in this mess to get beyond doing just what we need to do to survive.

May we find a way to smile easily again, find a way to bring joy, to lift neighbours, thrive.

May we all be thankful for the little things, even if the big things feel heavier than ever.

May we try to keep in mind, although it seems so far away, this chokehold still isn't for forever.