It is a week past Thanksgiving and I’m finally getting around to posting something about it. Most of my family was here. We had a good time, ate a lot of good food, and had at least one hysterical laughing jag. We have much to be thankful for.

It’s easy to be thankful for one day. It’s much harder to maintain a consistent attitude of grace. Yes, it’s lovely to have a four-day weekend, but then too soon it is Monday morning and the furnace is busted, the coffee machine spewed hot coffee and grounds all over the counter, the email has piled up, and the phone starts to ring. Suddenly that glass is half empty again and it’s hard to remember how good we have it.

So we muddle through and think sullen thoughts about how short that weekend really was. Until something brings it back into perspective — a beautiful choral concert or a visit with a friend calmly facing the start of chemotherapy next month.

I’m jolted back to the realization that I can get that damn furnace fixed or even replaced if I have to, the coffee is all cleaned up now, and I’ve managed to wade through those emails and phone calls. They don’t count. All that counts is the quality of this moment. Right now.