Early in November, our son Jeremy reminded us that it was time to start writing messages for our “grateful jar”.  Once more, we will pause before our Thanksgiving dessert and pass around our “jar”, each of us picking a message to read until it is empty.  I, of course, am completely emotional about all this.  The other day just writing about why I’m grateful for Peter caused my eyes to fill with tears. 

But this year, we have more to be thankful for than ever before.  We live in a free country, and although we weep for those who were killed in terrorist attacks in the past few weeks, we are not confined to our homes like the people of Brussels or bravely sitting in a Paris café to prove that we are not going to let terrorists change the way we live.  For those who lost loved ones, it has been dreadful. 

In all of this sadness, I was touched by the young French father whose wife was killed and who spoke out about how he would not give the terrorists the gift of his hatred.   Of his seventeen-month-old son, he said, “Every day of his life this little boy will insult you with his happiness and freedom because you don’t have his hatred either.”

Studies have shown that expressing gratitude is good for our health.  We should be thankful every day, not just on Thanksgiving.