Gratitude...

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
                                       ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

It's that time of year... my kids come home bearing armfuls of art... reciting pretty prose... and singing seasonal songs... It''s all about Thanksgiving... 

I am not quite ready for 'Tis the Season. My children, however, have been getting into the holiday season and have started decorating. First, they made a table cloth with a piece of old linen and using leaves as stencils, went to town with fabric Spray Paint.

Once that was finished they turned a tree that I have been holding onto - certain it will make a comeback - into what they have named their Gratitude Tree. They wrote all the things they were grateful for on paper leaves and hung them with twine.

It's an ongoing ritual that began a week ago, and I love that nightly dinner conversations have continued to be about gratitude and how much we have to be thankful for.

I found myself telling them that we should be grateful everyday... all year... not just at Thanksgiving time....

I quickly reminded myself what we were talking about and got back to gratitude and was grateful for that moment.

IN THE WORDS OF CICERO, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others."