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GRATITUDE

Being Thankful for Thanksgiving — Next Year

A lace tablecloth, turkey, pumpkin pie, and a gratefulness list that may help me — and you if you’re as old as I am — live until Thanksgiving 2025

Katharine Valentino
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age
4 min readNov 29, 2024

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Your World in Thanksgiving Color — Andrzej Pokrzywiec on Unsplash

Grandchildren set the table each year, being ever so careful with Gramma’s antique lace tablecloth and Wedgewood china. Mom brings in a huge turkey from the kitchen amid “oohs” and “ahs” by three generations of family jostling each other to take their seats. Grampa sits himself at the head of the table and steadies his youngest grandchild, who is clambering atop an old-fashioned unabridged dictionary placed on top of his chair.

What happens next? Prayer? Probably. Praying precedes about two-thirds of all Thanksgiving dinners.

However, there’s another tradition that is new to many grammas and grampas but has become customary among slightly more than two-thirds of us who celebrate Thanksgiving: expressing gratitude.

You’re probably reading this article after Thanksgiving. If so, you may already have been surprised at your own celebration by a request to put off chowing down on turkey and dressing until after you've revealed your innermost thoughts in a gratitude ritual.

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Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

Published in Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” (Frank Lloyd Wright) Non-fiction pieces, personal essays and occasional poems that explore how we feel about how we age and offer tips for getting the most out of life.

Katharine Valentino
Katharine Valentino

Written by Katharine Valentino

Still trying for the words to help us do & feel good things. Owner of Reviews for Medium Featured Books. I write life stories & about politics / social issues.

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