An Appreciation Feast for Thanksgiving

One of my most memorable Thanksgiving celebrations was about ten years ago. After an enormous holiday feast, all of my family members sat around my parents’ living room unable to move (does that sound familiar?).

On an impulse, I grabbed the video camera and suggested that we all go around in a circle telling each other one thing we most appreciate about each other. My family reluctantly agreed, as they rolled their eyes thinking, “this is another one of those ‘Marci’ things.”

We started with my mother — I told her I appreciated how she always believes in me. Then my brother told her that he appreciated what a generous person she was, followed by my nephew who told her how he could taste the love in her signature butterscotch chip cookies, and on and on. Then we moved on to my father and did the same process until all twelve of us had been lavished on.

By the end of this appreciation feast, we had even bigger smiles on our faces than we’d had while we were eating the mashed potatoes and the apple pie a la mode.

There’s so much research showing the extraordinary benefits of sharing thanks and appreciation. But, we don’t even need those statistics to know how it feels in our hearts.

With the passing of my 93 year-old aunt this year (the last of seven aunts and uncles) and the passing of both my parents in the past few years, this is our family’s first Thanksgiving that my siblings and I are the “older generation.” We’ll be celebrating together at my brother’s home with “the younger generation,” and we’ll all be watching that special video together. I am so grateful that we have our appreciation feast captured on video and in our hearts. Why not celebrate your family and friends with an Appreciation Feast this Thanksgiving.

I send you all my best wishes for a Thanksgiving deeply full of thanks.

With love and gratitude for you being in my life, Marci