Gratitude, the spirit of Thanksgiving, whacked me upside the head recently in the midst of a literal storm.
Yup, 2020 has felt like one big storm engulfing the world, keeping our internal weather patterns riled up as well. But this was a real storm with real rain and real wind and real uncertainty about whether our physical safety might be impacted.
Here’s the funny part…it turned out to be a thoroughly joyful experience.
The Storm
We were celebrating my son’s and his girlfriend’s move to a new apartment in Washington, DC. Their new neighborhood is packed with great restaurants, many of which are set up with pandemic-friendly outdoor seating areas.
It was an unseasonably warm evening as we took our seats in Supra‘s large, well-ventilated dining tent, literally right next to the mesh window. I felt silly for bringing my warm down jacket.
Sometime between our appetizers and the main dishes, a thunderstorm blew in. It was sort of quaint at first, until it wasn’t.
Wind and rain pummeled the tent, we could hear things crashing outside the skin of our ‘dining room’, and you couldn’t see more than a few yards outside because the downpour was so heavy.
The waiter came out and asked if we wanted to move inside. We all looked at each other and agreed, “Nope. We’re fine.”
It turned out that my down jacket was a pretty good shield to the wind and rain blowing through the window. The frame of the tent was bolted into the sidewalk and held. All four of us were on the same page about being willing to get a little wet and windblown rather than moving inside given pandemic recommendations.
Reframing to Gratitude
My heart burst with gratitude. Gratitude for my family. Gratitude for the amazing food we were able to share. Gratitude for our health. Gratitude for the aliveness that I felt in that moment of intense wind and rain and taste and connection. And gratitude for our resilience in the midst of this storm.
Thanksgiving Day will be bittersweet. We usually are surrounded by our large and noisy extended family, but this year it will be Mark, myself, and our two sons sharing a meal on our patio.
Our parents are staying safe in their homes, which is incredibly hard. It’s a huge sacrifice for them, but we are grateful that they are being smart so that we can have them here next year and beyond.
We have learned a lot about ourselves this year. We can do hard things. We can adapt. Our frames are bolted strongly in the concrete.
Wishing you a Happy (and well anchored) Thanksgiving!
With gratitude, Martha
