Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Our Thanksgiving is always a busy one! Ryan has a large family and Thanksgiving is an important holiday for the Gagnon/Coventry clan. So we end up doing lunch with the Coventrys, dinner with the Gagnons and finish up with dessert with my family. It’s always a long day, but he importance of the holiday is always strong. Thanksgiving is all about being grateful. It’s about appreciating what (and who) you have. Thanksgiving to us is about FAMILY! Yes it’s about good food and yummy treats, but when the food is stale and the home you have is bare and gone, when times get tough and the road only seems to be a steep slope uphill…. family will still be there.

It’s can be easy to take family for granted because they are always around. You know your mom will always love you. That your dad will always have sage advice to share. That your cousins will be there to poke fun and that your brothers or sisters will be around to tease. But the truth is… we never know how long we have. And the holidays provide us with a chance to really remember to be grateful for those we may take for granted… our silent (or sometimes not so silent) support system. The people who we may not let know how much we appreciate them and what they do for us. The people we can’t imagine not having in our lives. The people who make us better human beings.

It’s why I’ll never be a Black Friday shopper (among many other reasons) but I can’t go from a place of thanks and gratefulness to a mentality of ravenous, materialistic drive. I just don’t have the dedication to wait in lines or fight for some good deal. Because time with my loved ones is always a far better deal than any money I could save. Family comes first in our house. I do admire those who thrive on the Black Friday rush, but that’s not me. So today you’ll find me spending time with those I love, relaxing and continuing the flow of gratitude.

May you have a thankful day full of love and appreciation both from those you love and for those you cherish. Happy Friday!

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