It’s Thanksgiving. Normally, we are on our way to a relatives home where a major feast is underway. There is laughter, share memories, family stories, coffee, hugs and snuggles…..much like your celebrations, I’m sure. This day in 2020, much like the rest of 2020, is different. For months, we all have been in suspended animation, hiding from each other, and strangers, and germs. Add our own retirement to that, and our lives are tremendously from a year ago.

However, some amazing blessings have come our way in these months. We have a new grandson, Rafael Lucas Spencer. Thanks to frugal parents, we were left with enough inheritance to purchase a new RV. Thanks to the professionalism and expertise of our legal team, at Abrams, Landau Ltd. in Herndon, VA, we were able to settle from a frightening car crash…and now have a Ford F-150 to tow our RV. How interesting that the most recommended form of travel during these pandemic days is the very one we have dreamed of for years. And how odd that the means and necesssary time arrived in tandem! And these are just the “major” things.

Everything else pales, though, when I really sit down to count my blessings. I am so very thankful for this man who has been husband to me for nearly 43. Years. I love what he is figuring out about retirement. I love that our goal for this day is to communicate with those we love, and fix our very own Thanksgiving feast together. We will eat by candlelight this evening on antique china that was given to my parents for their marriage in July, 1949.

I’m thankful for a sister who is also my best friend. I’m grateful for four brothers, my nieces and nephews and their spouses, for sons who remain close, even though we live miles apart. Expanding outward are our church, a school job that I dearly loved, the myriad of friends we have made over the years. Many of you still keep in touch.

All of a sudden my mind is going crazy, flooding with all the blessings that are part and parcel of living in 2020 – everything from the birds singing and chowing down at the three feeders that Ed refilled yesterday, to the internet with its amazing possibilities, to our home, and neighbors, and stores who have figured out a system for shopping that keeps us both well-stocked and safe. And on and on and on…

This is a great time to be alive! And, it’s a great time to sit quietly, before we return to our helter -skelter lives, and reflect on just how blessed we really are. Happy Thanksgiving!