Remember your blessings this Thanksgiving

By Edie J. Adler

    Every year as I prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving I think about the many blessings in my life; of course things have been a little challenging this year for most people, including my husband and me. The economy has affected us too; there were times when it was particularly difficult to focus on the positive.

    Nonetheless, I credit my beautiful Papito and Mamita for teaching me to be grateful for what I have. God has been good to me. He blessed me with the best parents, best brother, best sister, best friends, best pets, and the best husband I could ever dream of finding!

    Like every other mortal I have people in my immediate family I’d wish I could delete! Throughout my life “friends” have betrayed me; but for every knuckle head I’ve had to deal with, there are just as many or more wonderful people I have the privilege of calling friends.

    I try to count my blessings often. When you do this, no matter how hard you might have it, you will find there are still things for which you should be grateful. I will give you a simple example: last week I took a tumble in a parking lot. I bruised my back, my elbow, my dignity, and my neck hurts even more now. But I am grateful I did not break any bones or hit my head!

    Neal and I don’t have much immediate family nearby; but we are grateful we have the love and support of so many wonderful friends!

    I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue my passion for acting and being creative. I am grateful for this blessed country, which gives everyone the same chance to live our lives as we choose; we may not all have equal results, but we all have equal opportunities!

    Thanksgiving was Papito’s favorite holiday; he thought it was a marvelous idea to have a specific day in which to give thanks to the Almighty. That’s one of the many good things I learned from him.

    Neal and I will share this Thanksgiving with friends we love and cherish; some we have known for many years, some are more recent. But they all have a very special place in our hearts and they are all part of our very special “diverse” family. Whoever said blood is thicker never had friends like ours!

    So as you surround yourself with loved ones to celebrate this wonderful tradition, enjoying your turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and “mole” (a tradition in my home started by Mamita) take a minute or two to answer this question: what are you grateful for?

Originally published in LatinoLA.com