Gratitude Can't Be Overrated

Gratitude can't be overrated. For whatever we can honestly bitch about in our lives, most of us have it pretty good. That turkey or tofu you're eating this Thanksgiving? Check. That warm bed you sleep in at night? Double check.

In a week, I'll be sitting around our dining room table with my extended family, each of whom I've bitched about on more than one occasion. But I'm also grateful to all of them, because they have taught me more than they will ever know. Though I may never have said some of these things to them directly, this year, what I'm really grateful for is that my mother and I have both lived long enough to forgive each other; that my husband's first instinct, after 21 years, is to treat me with kindness; that my in-laws generosity has changed our lives; and that my sons are almost taller than me.

This year, maybe I'll say some of these things out loud.