Thanksgiving is one of my favorite adopted holidays (along with numerous Jewish ones). After having been abroad for so many years, I have come to realize that is there is an unfortunate lack of tradition in Brazil. Or at least that is the way I was brought up.
Even though my family is catholic, I wasn’t baptized because my parents wanted me to be able to choose my religion once I felt ready, for which I’m incredibly grateful. And yet, every year I’ll hold on to Christmas tightly (completely out of habit, and not at all out of belief), as well as to wearing white on New Year’s Eve. The truth is, I crave for tradition really badly.
I have been celebrating Thanksgiving for the past six years, ever since I went to an American college. As part of an expat family of friends, I have learned to appreciate this opportunity to give thanks. I do know the history of the holiday, and I believe that gratefulness should be a daily habit – but as humans we have a tendency of forgetting this. If you are reading this, you’re already an incredibly lucky individual – you’re literate, with access to a computer. And I welcome you to join me in an exercise of gratitude.
I couldn’t possibly list all things for which I’m grateful, but if I had to, I’d know where to begin.
My parents. My mom is my best friend, and my dad is my number one idol. Every other thing for which I am grateful is either directly or indirectly thanks to them. I was taught German from age 3 because they understood the importance of learning foreign languages, and now I live in Munich. I got to go to the American University of Paris because of their capacity and willingness to save up their hard earned money just for me. There, I met some of the most special people one could hope to encounter in a lifetime, amongst which my loving boyfriend – a guy willing to move to a country which language he doesn’t speak just to be with me, leaving behind a steady career and many friends. I love him so much.
I am thankful for my grandmother having turned 97 yesterday. I am thankful for living in an apartment that is big enough for us to host Thanksgiving for the first time. I am so thankful to work where I do, and to have started a career in advertising. I am thankful that my boss let me take the day off yesterday, so I could spend it with my boyfriend preparing cornbread, stuffing, deviled eggs – all for the first time. In fact, my boyfriend prepared his first turkey from scratch too – even though I didn’t have any of it (neither did I help him in the preparation …), our guests sure seemed to love it.
Speaking of which, I am very thankful for having shared this meal with people who I couldn’t even have hoped to meet 3 months ago. Overall, I am thankful to all of our friends (old and new) who continue to make Munich feel just like home.
And the list surely goes on infinitively (I continue editing this post every time I think of something that I just can’t leave out).
Happy Thanksgiving (weekend)!
What are you thankful for this year?
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