Happy Appreciation Day

Whenever we would visit for Thanksgiving, my daughter by choice, Alice, would make sure to have a pot of Minnesota wild rice soup ready. Christmas decorations would go up weeks early, and my son and grandchildren were under orders to behave (with my son, Will, ordered not to complain about Christmas music). This year, my other daughter by choice, Paula, herded her tribe into a soccer mom car packed to the rafters with gifts and activities and drove with my son and grandchildren thousands of miles to celebrate family. My son by choice, Chris, got stuck working but encouraged my (pregnant with her first child) daughter, Maria, to fly out and be with this crazy crew.

Full disclosure, I hate the term “in-law”, it sounds like a legal sentence rather than a welcome addition to the family. They were our children’s choice and Claire and I raised them to have great taste!

As we started our celebration week, Claire and I were truly thankful and blessed, but that feeling somehow just seemed inadequate. We have said “Thanks” thousands of times and it seems to have lost its impact. So, this Thanksgiving, Claire and I started to practice appreciation! Instead of saying “Thank you,” we changed it up to “I appreciate you”

So this Thanksgiving, to all my children of birth and choice, Claire and I want to say;

We appreciate you for creating an environment of love and support for our children and grandchildren.

We appreciate your concern for our safety and well being as we age, the times when you have shoveled our snow, visited, took care of Nana after surgery, or simply woken us to ask “How about a skype?”

Are we thankful for all our blessings? ABSOLUTELY!

However, stronger than thankfulness is the appreciation we have for the effort that you have made to grow those blessings. We appreciate the times that you have put aside your differences and put forth the effort to keep the family together. We appreciate your staying part of our lives as well as making us part of your family.

So, on this Thanksgiving, don’t just count your blessings but realize the effort and love that went into them. Blessings take work, love and commitment; they don’t just happen! So appreciate the ones who have loved you enough so that this year you can truly say

HAPPY APPRECIATION DAY