For the next couple weeks I will be posting the Gratitude Journal prompts that are being given to my students and my response post.

The holidays are all about family traditions. For years we travelled to meet with my mom’s side of the family. As we grew up, where ever we were living, we spent Thanksgiving together and usually Christmas Eve. It didn’t matter what was going on in the world, nothing was more important than spending Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve with family. 

When I lived in Florida I made it out to Southern California every other year, and not all of the kids could make the annual pilgrimage to Southern California. At one point with family member spread all across the U.S., I proposed the idea that we take turns hosting the Christmas gathering one year around NYC, one year in Northern California, one year in Hawaii so that we all shared in the experience of Christmas where ever we’ve moved to. That idea never took off, COVID hit, mom spent her last years in Hawaii and then passed, and things got complicated by family issues about the estate. Ugh. And I’m not going anywhere for the holidays… for now. 

It will probably take some time, but I’m still hoping that the idea of family getting together for the holidays at the various corners of the world where we all live might become a thing. I miss getting together.