I recently stumbled across a shoe-box full of forgotten photos taken long before smartphone photos became the camera norm.  I sat for a long time identifying familiar and not so familiar faces and scenery.

 I looked closely at the distant and strange places trying to discover where they were.  When recognizable people and places appeared, I smiled and chuckled at the happy memories that flooded my mind and heart.  While contented family members, long absent from our decorative holiday tables and special family occasions, surfaced displaying approving expressions.

 It was then that I remembered this quote from a forgotten author, Enjoy the little things for one day we may look back and realize they were actually big things.  These words ring so true as I glance from one snapshot to another.  I recalled how my life today is enriched and enhanced by the gift of these ordinary folks who loved me so easily and totally. 

 As I gazed at one photo, l looked over the festooned table filled with the scents of my grandmother’s savory cooking and homemade goodies and my grandfather admiring his beloved brood pronouncing his appreciation: “I’m so rich, see my amazing jewels.”  His words brought tears to his eyes and joy to ours, his surrounding treasures.

The photo evoked a memory of that day when in a few silent moments everyone contemplated abundant blessings and forgot for a moment any of life’s personal hardships.  Love easily reveals more good than we thought, or even recognized.

Realizing the Lord is always with us, my family gratefully bowed our heads, thanking our generous Lord for his daily bread of love, care, and protection.

As I completed my rummaging through this memory box,  I recalled that Thanksgiving is the one day we remember that happiness begins when we stop complaining about our troubles and express our gratitude for all our blessings. 

As Abraham Lincoln once remarked: Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be!  President Lincoln is “Spot on!”    

And as Saint Francis De Sales prayed: 

“Thank you Lord for everything. Please give me one more thing. A Grateful heart.”  

Happy Thanksgiving!