The Mindfulness Blog

It's always been true, but I finally stopped to ask myself: Why has Thanksgiving always been my favorite holiday? The reasons have changed over the years, reflecting the changes in me-- but that's to be expected.

In my childhood years, the reason was simple: the holiday brought the most important people in my young life together, around one table. In my early teenage years (when I attended a preparatory school, about an hour away from home) Thanksgiving was a reason to come home and soak up all the things I loved about (and some of the things I wasn't so enamored of) our family.

During my college years, Thanksgiving was always a time to mix with old friends and relive a lifestyle with which I was familiar, and comfortable. During post-college years (before marriage and starting a new family), Thanksgiving became more reflective-- a time that was wistful about the past, and hopeful about the future.

Over the first several decades as a husband, a father and a young lawyer, Thanksgiving became a time for "growing up"-- which was kind of fun, but often scary. It was a chunk of time that was for the most part, a complete blur-- I forgot that Thanksgiving had been my favorite holiday, and honestly, that didn't change much-- for a very long time.

Now that I'm retired, however, I'm beginning to recapture the spirit of Thanksgiving and remember why it has always been my favorite holiday-- because it makes me feel good. I get to be a grandfather to five grandchildren I absolutely adore, as well as father to my three kids and their incredible spouses. And I get to live the whole thing all over again. I guess, it never really ended.

For everything that has happened in my life-- both the good, and the bad-- I am truly thankful. Ain't gratitude grand?