In just a few days, our family, along with other Canadians, will be celebrating Thanksgiving. This means a busy time of preparation ahead for me, with a house to clean, errands to run, groceries to buy and food to prepare.
Beneath all of the busyness, however, is a barely-contained excitement. For one whole day, all of my children will be under my roof again, bringing with them their partners and my grandbabies. This year too we are blessed to have my 94-year-old mother joining us as well as my daughter’s mother-in-law, who would otherwise have been spending the day alone. It will be a full house and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
It’s what the day is meant to be — happiness in being with family, gratitude in having mom still with us, and the pleasure in sharing our blessings with another.
I don’t remember childhood Thanksgivings the way I remember those Christmases. My maternal grandmother really enjoyed the latter and her attitude left an indelible memory. The former consequently always seemed to be little more than a practice run for the Dec. 25 menu. That sense carried through for me into my adult years.
There has, however, been a recent shift. With Christmas so busy there’s little time to really enjoy the day with my loved ones as we constantly seem to be in a rush. Thanksgiving then has become the relaxed version, when the pleasure in counting one’s blessings, is coupled with the ability to actually enjoy them for a bit.
In keeping with the delight that will be building over the next couple of days, posting collections of static images just didn’t seem quite the right fit. Enjoy then these terrific Thanksgiving-themed animations:
