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I Am Grateful

Thank you for allowing me into your life, even if it's just on occasion through these small stories I share. I'm immensely grateful.

With today being Thanksgiving in the U.S., my wish for you is that your heart is filled with great joy and gratitude. That you feel light, bright, and a deep sense of reverence. For those of you who I may not have yet met in person or spoken with face to face, I want you to know how glad I am that you're here. How wonderful it is to be a part of your journey and growth.

On this special day of thanks, please enjoy this beautiful song by my friends Karen Taylor Good and Stowe Daily, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriters from Nashville:

"I Am Grateful..."

From the bottom, top, and sides of my heart... I am grateful for each one of you.

Happy Thanks-Giving.

Love and Light,

Thankful. Grateful. Appreciate.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  When I think about the 3 words around this season, they are thankful, grateful, and appreciate.

It is the time of giving and receiving the most valuable gift we have…Love. Love comes in all sorts of packages, a phone call to a friend, a donation to the food bank, a card to a family member, a small meal or an enormous feast, a glance of understanding by your beloved, or the curling up of the kitties in your lap. These are the gifts of the heart of Thanks Giving.

Gathering with friends and loved ones around a meal can be an act of Grace. The laughter and stories and food and joy all create a rarified atmosphere. A place where time can become irrelevant, and memories become alive again.

Like this memory of my niece Tori 15 years ago when we made Martha Stewart worthy pumpkin pies!

 Or this post-turkey photo of 4 generations of our family with sweet squirmy nieces and nephews that we...

Thanks. Giving.

It’s November and Thanksgiving is but a blink away. This is my favorite holiday because it’s focused on generosity, gathering with people we love, and eating food from recipes handed down by generations.  "We Gather Together" the Christian hymn of Dutch origin is my go-to Thanksgiving song.

My early memories of Thanksgiving are of the smells coming from my grandmother’s kitchen. Turkey roasting in the oven next to the homemade Icebox rolls, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and the oyster dressing she made just for my dad. And it wouldn’t have been Thanksgiving without my grandpa’s “Best Yet” cranberry salad. My great grandmother Mayme (grandpa’s mother) would always exclaim, “Elmer, that cranberry salad is the best yet!” And hence the name stuck! I have grandpa’s original recipe card in his own handwriting, and now Tori, his great-granddaughter has a copy.

 My mom and Tori with the...

"Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.” Alan Cohen

November a happy/sad time of the year for me. It is packed with events and emotion like Mid-term Elections, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and November has been proclaimed by each President and Congress since 1984 as National Hospice Month. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge the fine work that hospice staff and volunteers do for dying people and their loved ones. Few organizations receive the honor of an entire month’s commemoration, and surely none is more deserving of such a “thank you” than hospice for the sacred work they do.

In the last couple of weeks, I delivered three keynote speeches to hospice staff and volunteers to mark National Hospice Month. The first was for Haven Hospice, the organization where I was Executive Director for 16 years, overseeing its growth from a very modest three employees...