For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's the day before Thanksgiving and I'm writing to you from a hotel room on the way to Louisiana. I'd been racking my brain about how to approach this post. Which links to previous recipes I'd include to encourage you to make them this holiday. How to convince you to make brussels sprouts or pumpkin cheesecake bars my way.
You don't need me for that. It seems like every blog I read is helping you along for the holidays. Go use recipes from Elise or Ree or Zoe. They're foolproof. You won't be disappointed, I promise.
My post on this day is about gratitude. It's been a whirlwind few years for me - that's been no secret. I look back at this blog and feel like it's going through a renaissance, much like I am. Just as it was getting off the ground, my mom passed away. Then my dad 2 years later. Add in work stresses and relationship turmoils and, well, this blog went months without having much to say...much like me. It's been just over a year since my dad passed away and the balance is just now being re-established. I now have an enthusiasm for life, writing, and cooking again that I haven't seen in a very long time. This blog is a mirror for what's going on in my life...and I wouldn't have it any other way (believe me, I've tried to make this place clinical and just about cooking and i just can't).
So today, I'm thankful for all of the people - both in "real life" and through this blog - that have supported me and helped me come to this place. It's been a rough go for several people I know this year...and my hope is that I have even begun to support you the way you have me. Even when I still had my parents around, you all have been my family just as equally. I'm also thankful for the reason I'm on the road again. My relationship makes me feel safe, empowered, inspired, and invincible - even on the days when it's hardest to show it.
This Thanksgiving, I'm thinking of the past not with sadness or bitterness but with an open mind and a warm heart. The things that have happened have allowed me to come to this place. I have the opportunity to forge new traditions and experience the holiday in a way I never have before. I hope those of you out there that read this have the holiday YOU want to have, whether it's re-enacting the same Thanksgiving as the year before...or you make this year it's own. Enjoy old traditions and relish making new ones. I can't wait to see how you all spent your holidays...and I can't wait to share mine. Oh and by all means, please do make the pumpkin cheesecake bars - they're delicious, I swear.
