Unlike last year, this Thanksgiving  2021 gives us an opportunity to celebrate with family and friends a bit freer than we may have done in 2020.  Personally, my family will once again be celebrating the way we used to:  all of us together under one roof, sharing meals, silliness and laughter.  We are grateful for the opportunity to get back together so quickly, relatively speaking.

Any meal can have a special meaning when shared with our family and friends.  Only the Thanksgiving meal has the possibility of filling us in many subtle ways, besides letting us enjoy delicious, traditional food.

We know that gratitude is the keystone of this one holiday.  This is the second year in which some of us may not feel up to the task of feeling  grateful if we have suffered the great loss brought about by the passing of loved ones.

Still, one way to celebrate those that are no longer with us is to celebrate with those that are, to share our love and time with those that remain.  It is wise to seize any opportunity to share love and time with those around us that mean the most to us in the present.

Besides those near to us, we can show our appreciation and love generally even for those we do not know.  Those who are, as the saying goes, less fortunate than us or are going through a tough time.

This year I thought I’d share three opportunities where you can express your gratitude for others in small and (oftentimes) invisible ways.  Below are the three links to organizations that I believe are worthy of any contribution. 

The first two links are for Dade and Broward organizations that help with food insecurity, a fancy phrase for people who are experiencing hunger for any reason.  For Miami-Dade, Edible Communities compiled  this list.  For Broward, the Sun Sentinel provides one as well.

Regarding children

This Thanksgiving may be extremely difficult for many children.

As Forbes reports, many children have lost their parents to Covid-19. Besides food banks, there is an opportunity to help through the Children’s Bereavement Center, an organization where children and families can get help when they lose a loved one.  I learned about it from a friend.  I think it is a great opportunity to help at a time of loss, particularly when it comes to children, many of whom have no ability to deal with losses as we adults do. From their website: Our goal at the Children’s Bereavement Center (CBC) is to enable children and families to acknowledge change, adjust and integrate loss with healthful grief and mourning.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your loved ones.