Post #16: Giving Thanks

To my family and friends,

On Sunday, three days after the American holiday, we celebrated our American Thanksgiving in Italy. It took three apartments in our complex to accommodate our guests (one for food, another for dining, and a third for wine and beverages), but all of our careful planning and preparation paid off. Import families and coaches as well as a pair of our Italian friends gathered together to share a memorable meal. Over 15 kilos of fresh tacchino, 10 kilos of mashed potatoes, more than 10 casserole pans full of side dishes not to mention appetizers and an endless selection of desserts for the thirty adults and five children attending the feast. It was truly an evening to be remembered and I was incredibly grateful to have been surrounded by so many friends in our home away from home. But the meal and the company weren’t the only things I was thankful for on the holiday of thankfulness…

As always, the Holidays bring out my sentimental side. Some might argue that I’m sentimental (and sometimes overly so) on all sides. But this is especially the case at this time of year. As I grocery shopped, baked, and cooked in the days leading up to our belated Thanksgiving dinner, I thought of how grateful I am for so many pieces of this wonderful thing called life.

For Skype that allows us to see our families “in person” from 4,000 miles away… for the direct flight from NY to Milan that will bring my mamma and nonna to me tomorrow morning… for a Cribbage board, dog walks, and similar little things that make me happy…  for a group of girlfriends back home that I can always count on to make me smile even if our only communication is through a weekly facebook message or email… for two sisters that are so different from but yet so perfectly compatible with myself… for two sets of parents that are endlessly supportive even when it means they will have to sacrifice a bedroom for us and a couch for our dog for undetermined lengths of time… for extended families that offer their love selflessly in the best and worst of times… for a husband that reminds me everyday why I married him just by being himself… for the little baby that is growing fuller with love every day so that he or she can join our little family in the Spring.

For all this, and so much more I am endlessly grateful. Not only on Thanksgiving, but every day. And I guess that’s something to be thankful for in itself… the fact that, as wonderful as a plateful of turkey and stuffing is, I don’t need it to be reminded of how lucky I really am. And I have all of you to thank for that.

Much love,

Sarah