Steven LaChance Blog

Thanksgiving has always been a complicated holiday for me. I do not love the history of what this day was originally meant to commemorate, and I do not pretend that the story we were taught as children was harmless. The truth is, history is messy, and sometimes it is painful, and sometimes it asks us to look at what we would rather look away from.

But even with all of that, there is a part of this day I still hold close. Because somewhere over the years, Thanksgiving became less about the myth and more about the meaning we choose to give it. For me, that meaning has always been gratitude. Quiet, honest, everyday gratitude.

That is the part I choose.

That is the part worth keeping.

This is my favorite holiday not because of the story behind it, but because it does not demand much from us. You do not need gifts. You do not need decorations. You do not need anything extravagant or polished. All it really asks for is a good dinner and someone to share it with. And there is something beautiful in that simplicity.

There is something sacred in sitting down at a table and saying, even silently, that you are grateful for the people who made it through the year with you. You are grateful for the ones who held your hand through the storms, and for the ones who made you laugh when you forgot how. You are grateful for the meals shared, the conversations that mattered, the small and steady moments that kept you going.

Sometimes gratitude is loud. Sometimes it is a celebration. But more often it is a soft thing. A quiet recognition that you are still here, and still trying, and still finding reasons to be thankful even when the world feels heavy.

This year, I am grateful for the simple things.

A warm meal.

A safe place to land.

People I love at the table beside me.

The peace that comes with letting go of old stories and choosing my own meaning.

I am grateful for the chance to breathe a little easier.

I am grateful for the kindness that found me in unexpected moments.

I am grateful for the life Rick and I have built, piece by piece, day by day.

And I am grateful for you, reading this, sharing this journey in whatever small way we cross paths.

So however you honor this day, I hope it meets you gently.

I hope you feel loved.

I hope you feel at peace.

And I hope there is something on your table, or in your heart, that reminds you how good it feels to be grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

May today bring you warmth and just enough joy to carry you forward.

With love,

Steven