Thanksgiving Day

I don't know if it is because I'm getting older, or if it is because there have been so many catastrophes around the world this year, but whatever the reason, I feel a lot of gratitude this Thanksgiving. A person only has to speak to someone from another country who has come to Canada to find the freedoms that we take to granted, to realize how fortunate we are and how thankful we should be. Closer to home, I am thankful for a wonderful family. My own little family and my extended family spend most holidays together. As I think back over the years at the gatherings I have enjoyed with brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, I realize anew what a wonderful family I was born into. I am grateful that at those gatherings we enjoyed food and had enough left-overs for almost everyone to take home. Compare that to the children who have to fight for scraps of food just to survive. I have wonderful friends which I am thankful for - both friends my husband and I have as a couple, and my women friends. When I compare the lives we lead as strong, independent women with the women in countries where they have no rights at all, I realize how fortunate I am to have been born in a country and at a time when the women before me fought for the rights I and my friends now enjoy. I am grateful that by working hard, my husband and I now have a home we love in a city we love. People in other countries work hard just to survive and never will be able to own their own home. Thanksgiving is really a time to reflect upon how fortunate we are and how blessed our lives have been. Well, for most us - my little friend, the turkey, in the picture is not so grateful to see Thanksgiving arrive. For the rest of us, however, enjoying a day with family and friends and being truly thankful for how fortunate we are . . . it's a good thing!