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Heartwings Love Notes 287 - Giving Thanks for All

Heartwings says, “Giving thanks for everything means recognizing the good in whatever happens.”

I bought a pumpkin to bake and make into soup or a casserole. I set it on top of the refrigerator and then got busy and forgot about it. More than a month later I remembered it and decided it was time to cook it. As I removed it from its perch the soft, rotted bottom deposited a mess of seeds, pulp and pumpkin juice on my kitchen floor. Oh dear, I thought, I’ve wasted my pumpkin.

I grew up on a household where my mother often said, “it’s a crime to waste that food.” If I didn’t eat what was put in front of me, I had to sit there until I did. What that meant was that sometimes I swallowed the pieces of my hateful liver without chewing them, like huge pills. Being a child who had difficulty sitting still, I preferred that to being forced to remain endlessly at the table.

Echoes of the past may reverberate unexpectedly. As I wiped up the kitchen floor these experiences from my childhood returned with a rush. I regretted the wasted pumpkin, yet I was grateful for the memories this incident brought back. Even at the most difficult of times I know there is always something for which to be thankful. What I need to do is to remember to acknowledge my gratitude.

I will celebrate this Thanksgiving, as always with a toast to the “absent ones.” Some of those absent are gone from this life, some merely elsewhere, yet all are dear to me. The memories this day holds are many and cherished. Those who are absent are missed, yet their presence in the past becomes part of why I am grateful. Their dear faces and the memories with them become a bouquet of fragrance that brings great joy to my Thanksgiving Day.

May you find joy in your thanks giving.

Blessings and Best Regards,
Tasha Halpert
 

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