HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!!

To all of you out there... a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you!

This is my third Thanksgiving Day in France. I decided not to have the big shin dig as the past two years, but rather share this day with Alex at home. It will be more quiet and we'll have less food than in the past years, but somehow... I feel that I have to take this year off from the huge task of preparing and cooking... last year, I cooked for 20 and the year before it was for 30. It was a potluck for both times, but I cooked the majority of the dishes, so it was a big project!

So, tonight, I will be serving up at home: Merlyn's famous yams, Fred's famous stuffing,my own fresh cranberry sauce, Alex's delicious marinated chicken (no turkey this year for us), and green beans. For dessert- if we make it that far... we will have fresh fruit. We decided to forego a traditional dessert because the delicious dishes already contain a fair amount of sugar. So, a dish of apples and pears will be our dessert!

I want to take this opportunity to say how Thankful I AM to have had my beloved and beautiful Mom, Louise, in my life for a grand 40 years... and how I will miss her so much again this year. I am thankful for so many things, and being able to share so many Thanksgiving Days with my family is one thing that I am most grateful for. We are all so scattered around the world now that it may be some time before we are all together again at one table to share a Thanksgiving meal... but we are all close in spirit! I LOVE YOU ALL, my dear family and I miss you all greatly!

I am also very thankful for all of my dear and wonderful friends both in the U.S. and abroad... and especially those in France, who have made life here very full and enriched by being in it!

I am thankful for good health...

AND... drumroll please..... I am very thankful to God for putting such a wonderful, kind, loving man as Alex in my path... because my life wouldn't be the same without him!!

I LOVE YOU ALEX!!!!

Thank you God for everything you have given me in life and for all the things to come!

AMEN