There are years when being grateful is easy; when the drop-down list of answers is long. This year does not feel that way. Instead, it feels like I cannot find my list at all, cannot see my way to it. Not because of any one great tragedy, but because enough minor things are clawing at me, clamoring for my attention.

So, this Thanksgiving, I will choose to be grateful. Before I go anywhere else today, I will refocus. I’m going to play a game my friend Alison loves. In no particular order, here are a few things I am thankful for:

My mother. She is the constant guiding presence in my life, the one who first taught me faith. I grew up grounded in her love. At times I think we could not be more different, but she gives me room to be who I am, while still being who she is. It’s always ok for me to cry in front of her. I don’t know that I can ever truly return to her everything she has been to me, but I maybe I can pass it along to my own children.

My camera. Ok, I’m grateful for a glass of white wine too. When I look back through pictures and see this and can recall exactly what it felt like to sit on that porch, taste the laughter in the warm summer air around me, I am grateful.

Old friends. Ones who have walked through so much history with me. And still, we smile…

This friend. To be sure, both of these women are extraordinary, but the one I’m especially grateful for right now is the one on the left. Black shirt (of course). She balances the world of artist and leader with grace and strength; she is the one we all ask when we don’t know what to do. She walks just far enough ahead of me in life to shine back some wisdom onto my path.

Him, of course. And these. He is the laughter, the energy, the #ringleader in our home. And we all love being a part of his circus.

Ok. That’s good for now. I may be back later. Thanks for being a part of Thanksgiving Therapy 2010.