Thanksgiving, As We Are Now
Thanksgiving looks different these days.
Not in a dramatic, obvious way …
but in the subtle shifts that happen when life keeps unfolding,
when families grow,
when we lose people we love,
and when everyone is quietly trying to figure out
how to keep traditions alive
while also finding their new rhythm.
This year we gathered at my brother’s house.
Not because it was planned,
but because we were celebrating something beautiful …
a little sprinkle for his son and daughter-in-law,
who are expecting a baby boy in December.
There was something really sweet about mixing Thanksgiving with baby gifts,
passing the dressing and the pie
right alongside onesies and tiny socks.
It felt like a reminder that life keeps expanding
even when grief and change have had their say.
Holding On, Letting Go, and Doing What Feels Like Home
Some years, we go through the motions
because doing what we’ve always done
feels like the closest thing to home we have left.
We pull out the same recipes.
We make the same dishes.
We tell the same jokes.
We hope our dish doesn’t end up being fed to the dog.
But the truth is
we’re all quietly yearning for what once felt familiar …
for the voices that used to fill the kitchen,
for the hands that taught us how to stir,
for the laughter of the ones who aren’t sitting at the table anymore.
And yet, in the middle of all that longing,
there is gratitude.
Deep, steady gratitude
for the ones who are here,
the ones who keep showing up,
the ones who keep trying alongside us
as we figure out this ever-evolving version of Thanksgiving.
Passing Recipes, Remembering the Hands Who Made Them
In our family, remembering looks like
passing the dressing,
cutting into the pies,
and carrying forward the cookie recipes
my mother and grandmother made year after year.
We don’t recreate their meals perfectly …
but we remember them in every bite.
We remember them in the way the kitchen smells.
We remember them in the stories that somehow resurface
the moment someone pulls out the pecan pie.
Tradition isn’t about getting everything right.
It’s about feeling connected
… to our past,
to our people,
to ourselves.
Choosing What Matters Going Forward
We realized something this year:
Cracker Barrel on Thanksgiving Thursday
isn’t cutting it anymore.
Not because the food isn’t good,
but because what we actually need
is each other.
So next year, instead of waiting an hour in line
for a table that rushes us,
we’re planning a simple brunch for anyone in the family
who doesn’t have other plans …
a way to slow down,
to gather without pressure,
to share time instead of stress,
and to honor what Thanksgiving is really about.
It doesn’t have to be a full spread.
It doesn’t have to look like Pinterest.
It doesn’t have to be the same as it once was.
What matters is the gratitude:
for the ones we have,
for the moments we share,
for the blessings we sometimes forget to name,
and for the chance to sit with people we love
over a cup of coffee
and a cookie or a slice of pecan pie
made from Mom’s recipe.
That …
right there …
is Thanksgiving.
Thought to Carry
As the shape of our holidays evolves, may our gratitude remain steady.
May we remember that what makes the day sacred is not perfection, but presence.
This week, I invite you to pause and honor one small moment of gratitude each day … write it down, whisper it aloud, or share it with someone you love. Let it become a quiet reminder as you move through this season.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and who we gather with into home.”
— Anonymous
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV