Thanksgiving

Our American day of thankfulness arrives in Asia about 12 hours ahead of North America. This Thursday differs very little from any other in China. In fact, we sent our kids out the door this morning to their British International School and Chinese Kindergarten like any other morning.

Are we more or less Thankful when we celebrate this day by not celebrating in the usual way?

While it is true that in a little under an hour I will retrieve Bei Bei from her kindie, and snatch Millie and Eliza from their mid-day Thursday routine in time to catch our flight to Shanghai, I wonder, are we thankful on the ordinary days, on the routine ones, the ones that involve scrambling for backpacks, lunch sacks and homework. The days when a kiss and a to-go mug of Joe @ the door is a rushed affair.

I savored a rare moment of alone time this morning @ Starbucks (where I nipped out to buy a last minute gift for our Thanksgiving dinner host in Shanghai.) As I sat enjoying my pumpkin scone and mocha in the relatively quite coffee shop atmosphere, I thought of all the collective moments of our China experience, and in our life in general, for which we can be thankful.

Almost on cue, I looked up to see huge white fluffy flakes of snow floating by outside. It was an unexpected event, beautiful and fresh. As I ventured out the back door of Starbucks, leaving the serene environment of mellow jazz and comfortable armchairs, I stepped into the crisp November air with wind gusts sending the snow swirling like autumn leaves. The atmosphere was not pristine, but unique, as techno music blared outside of a clothes shop and people scurried doing their Thursday things, but most smiling with the unexpected sighting of snow in the fall. Unexpected things on a Thursday morning. Smiling, happy people doing their routine.

I am thankful for this morning, for the warmth of the indoors, and the cool crispness of the outdoors. I am thankful for the moments we share together as a family, and those we share with our friends in this foreign land.

As you carve your turkey tomorrow, think of your thankful moments, both those that come to mind when the table is set with the best china and surrounded by those you love, AND life’s other moments: the rushed and scattered, the busy days and times. May your thankfulness be at hand in both kinds of moments. May my thankfulness be the same.

Happy Thanksgiving to all we know, love, treasure and miss! May your day be blessed, and our hearts truly thankful.