Giving Thanks

I am thankful for many things. I can sit here and list a million thanks. I am not going to start there. What I am going to do first is list what I am not thankful for.

- I am not thankful for the insanity I witnessed at WalMart on Thanksgiving night at 10:00PM. WHAT the [curse] were the people who run that store thinking? If you say a sale begins at 10:00 PM do not open the store early and allow people to get "tickets" and camp out until the sales times. Yes, there were people literally laying in aisles with pillows etc...Here is another point - why weren't they home enjoying Thanksgiving with their families? People said they were sitting at that store from 5:00. Ok, I was there, but it was 10:00!!! NOT 5:00! So I am not Thankful that the retail industry has ruined a Thanksgiving tradition of shopping for my mom, my sister and I at 4:00AM on Black Friday.

- I am not thankful for the feathers I found still on my turkey before I cooked it.[ I couldn't eat it].
- I am not thankful for not being able to have a glass of wine after a long day of cleaning and cooking and eating because I had to drive to WalMart only to find the horrible mess of insane shoppers.
- I am not thankful that people have not learned it is not polite to expel bodily gas in public, especially in an over crowded store where you are waiting in lines shoulder to shoulder, back to front.
- I am not thankful to see that somewhere the spirit of Thanksgiving was lost in a world of retail insanity. 
- I am not thankful that I found it necessary to participate in this mess [NEVER AGAIN].

My lesson here: I discovered that the best part of my day was looking down my table and seeing all of my nieces and nephew, my mom and step-father, my sister and brother-in-law, my brother, my boys, my fiance`s children and him. We gathered for one meal, we ate together, we laughed, we enjoyed each other. My sister and her family drove 4 hours to do this [that's love]. I learned that the best part of the holiday isn't how much you spend on the meal, the preparation, the time you eat, or even what you eat. It is being together. 37 minutes of a meal, made me the most thankful sibling, mother, fiance, daughter, friend and person in the world.