{"id":2366,"date":"2014-11-26T23:57:18","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T04:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2366"},"modified":"2014-11-26T23:57:18","modified_gmt":"2014-11-27T04:57:18","slug":"oh-happy-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2366","title":{"rendered":"Oh happy night."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"thesky\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chocolate milk.
\nThe carrot that goes on the face of a snowman.
\nBaby kittens.
\nRoller skates.
\nStrawberry Pop-Tarts.
\nThe grass stains on the knees of my blue jeans.
\nRain storms that fill the street gutters.<\/p>\n

This is a very, very short list.\u00a0 A list of things that I can remember being really thankful for in my youth.\u00a0 I can think of a thousand more from my earliest days, but I am sure it would bore you to tears.\u00a0 And heaven knows, I don’t want to make you cry.\u00a0 Not tonight.<\/p>\n

It is a happy night.\u00a0 Or it should be.\u00a0 This is the Eve.<\/p>\n

By this point, a lot of people are exhausted.\u00a0 They have been working hard….. preparing food and readying the household.\u00a0 Peeling and pureeing.\u00a0 Scrubbing and sweeping.\u00a0 And tonight, they find respite in their little beds, with their little fleece blankets, and cotton covered pillows.\u00a0 They dream of platters of turkeys, and mountains of pies, and boats filled with gravy.<\/p>\n

Then at the crack of dawn, the real bustle begins.\u00a0 Getting it all mashed and strained, cooked and fried…. all just in time to be placed… ever so carefully on the long cloth-covered tables.\u00a0 Hours of thinking and planning, shopping and carrying, cooking and cleaning… for this fine moment.<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving Day Dinner.\u00a0 Turkey Day.\u00a0 The Stuff Your Belly Full Day.\u00a0 They sit…. to partake in this feast of feasts.<\/p>\n

Then.\u00a0 Fourteen minutes later… the whole big deal is over.\u00a0 Gobbled.\u00a0 Chomped.\u00a0 Burped.\u00a0 And maybe burped again.<\/p>\n

Yet. If most of us are lucky… it really wasn’t the main event.\u00a0 It was just a layover.\u00a0 Because on this day, we are reminded to be thankful.\u00a0 THAT…. is the thing of all things.<\/p>\n

Should we really need such a reminder?\u00a0 If we are lucky, we do not.\u00a0 You see, on any given day, at any given moment…. even during the darkest and most desperate moments…\u00a0 there is always a reason to be thankful for.\u00a0 Sometimes it takes courage to notice.\u00a0 But most days, this should be as easy as pumpkin pie.\u00a0 We have life. And breath.\u00a0 And the spark in our souls.\u00a0 The most precious gifts of all.<\/p>\n

I recently heard an extremely touching account from a person who had been through the unthinkable.\u00a0 Yet despite this deep sadness and pain …. she found reason to be thankful.\u00a0\u00a0 She could smile and be grateful for the world that she is in right now.<\/p>\n

All of us…..\u00a0 are in the midst of this constant flow of energy… we call life.\u00a0\u00a0 May we all be thankful to be here together.\u00a0 May we always remember that we share all of this with one another.\u00a0 We are very much alike… and at the same time… we are all very different.\u00a0 Thankfully.<\/p>\n

I am grateful for the blessings in my life.\u00a0 They are infinite and they abound.<\/p>\n

I am thankful that I am who I am.\u00a0 And I am equally thankful that you… are YOU.<\/p>\n

Crayons.
\nCaptain Kangaroo.
\nBaskin-Robbins.
\nFluffy clouds.<\/p>\n

\n

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.\u00a0 —\u00a0 Tecumseh<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chocolate milk. The carrot that goes on the face of a snowman. Baby kittens. Roller skates. Strawberry Pop-Tarts. The grass stains on the knees of my blue jeans. Rain storms that fill the street gutters. This is a very, very short list.\u00a0 A list of things that I can remember being really thankful for in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nowyouseeit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2366"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2371,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions\/2371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}