Thanksgiving

I am thankful for fresh fruit everyday. For clean, running water. For free, accessible health care. For affordable medicine. For vaccines. For public schools that accept everyone, regardless of sex, race, religion or income.

I am thankful for our home. For 4 walls and a roof that will protect us from the elements. For our safety. For our neighbours, who delight in my children and who look out for each other (and each other's children).

I am thankful that I can read. That my children will read. That my children will have opportunities that most people in the world can only dream of. That their focus won't be on preventing starvation, fleeing from violence, or survival. They have the luxury to grow and thrive.

I am thankful for the sound of little girls laughing. For kisses blown at each other. For giant hugs. For the love and comfort of having my family around me.

I am thankful that there is a child in the Congo who will soon be with his Mummy, Daddy, brother and sister in Calgary. I am thankful that Cara's love doesn't comprehend differences in race or territories mapped out by waring countries. Her heart has reached across the ocean and grabbed hold of her child, and the hold she has on him is stronger than all the forces that may try to diminish that bond.

I am thankful that I get to share my dinner of Thanksgiving with those that I love most in this world:

Despite their "nuances" (yes, Dan, this includes you. Exhibit A: insisting on wearing sunglasses while you are photographed eating your Thanksgiving meal), they are everything to me. And I am everything to them. My cup runneth over.