Sharing Thankfulness

Despite all that I’ve been through I have a lot to be thankful for and perhaps because of all I’ve been through I tend to be more mindful of those things I am thankful for than I would otherwise be. I am thankful for the simple things, the seemingly small things that most take for granted maybe, simply because many of those things were taken from me or nearly lost.

So I appreciate that I’m alive, that I’m free, that I can spend time with my family, that I still have a job (two actually), and many other things really… for me, every day is a thanksgiving filled with the laughter of my children and the loving warmth of my wife… I am truly blessed.

So, each thanksgiving I’ve made it a tradition to share our blessings and the warmth of our home with those who don’t have anyone else to share that with on this holiday that normally celebrates family as much as it celebrates thankfulness.

This year it’s been tight though, we barely had enough to pay for the food we’ve prepared for the dozen people that we’ve invited over, which is about the same number as last year. But we made do, emptied the coin jar, and went without with what we could sacrifice, and I know I’ll be thankful for that as well tomorrow when I get to share my holiday with the smiles and warmth of a full apartment.

But, I’m not alone in that, in fact what I do is rather small an insignificant, hardly worth mention really. Just down the street from where I live is a restaurant called Amore that also shares it’s bounty of thanks with those who would otherwise not have much to be thankful for.

It’s a place I’ve passed by on occasion to or from the bus stop, and I would see the owner and we would smile at each other or nod heads in passing and not really thinking much of it other than that the man seems like a nice guy who has been through his own share of trials that make him thankful for the small things too.

Well, what I didn’t know was that he also has a habit of sharing his holiday sharing his spirit of thanks with others… about 500 others in fact, and this year made it hard for him to do the same as well, by the tune of about $4,000 from his own pocket in fact.

I wish I had known… but now that I do, hopefully I can share my thanks for his work with him next time I see him when I walk down the street… and maybe add a few people to those whom I get the opportunity to share my thanks with next year by helping him out.

Maybe I'll see you there and share some thanks with you too.