I am not one who is big on prescriptive holidays.  I try to celebrate the people I love often and without prompting from Hallmark and others.  I know that Thanksgiving isn’t a Hallmark holiday, but it is a holiday that has lost a lot of meaning and has become about turkey, football and pumpkin pie.  I have decided to honor those things I am thankful for all week.  I will post about one thing each day and pay homage to those/that which I am most thankful for.  It is so important to be thankful as we live in a world of vastness, isolation, excess and material pressures. 

I am thankful first and foremost for my family. 

    

    

I have been blessed with two parents who love me intensely and unconditionally and who would move heaven and earth to help me in anyway they can.  They pushed me to the best person, woman, sister, daughter, wife and mom that I can be.  They supported me when I needed support and forced me to stand on my own when I leaned too much.  I am thankful that my parents sacrificed their happiness to keep our family together, so that we as kids didn’t have to endure separate homes and separate families. While I was growing up, I often resented my parents for their unhappiness and often wished they would divorce.  Looking back, I know that they did what was best for us.  They made the best of a bad situation and I think we all benefited from it.  Thank you mom and dad.  Your sacrifice is not forgotten…

I am thankful for my two amazing and wonderful brothers.  They are younger than me by 3 and 4 years.  We were not always close and we have not always seen eye to eye, but they are two of my best friends.  The love I feel for them is unrivaled (except for the love for my son and hubby–but family ties are super strong).  I would do anything for them and I know that they would do anything to help me and each other.  I am lucky to live in the same city as my parents and my baby brother.  The middle brother lives in Chicago–so he is very close.  I am lucky to have a close family and a family that loves so greatly.  To them I am thankful for helping me become who I am today and for allowing me to be such an important and integral piece of their life. 

To my family…I love you.