Kathleen Valenti

Thanks a Little

I’m going to be 10,000% honest—and please feel free to check that math: I’m a wee bit nervous about Thanksgiving.

This is the first year in three decades that I’ll be spending it with different people in a different state doing different things.

But with all of that differentness comes new experiences, a wealth of opportunities, and heaps of things for which to be grateful. So I’m putting my cornucopia of blessings in list form, with special love and attention on the unusual, the arcane, and especially the small. After all, so many times the little things are the big things.

My Little List of Little Things I’m Thankful For:

More amazing TV shows than I could ever possibly watch (unless I quit my job, which seems reasonable)

Losing at Words with Friends when I play against my son (reason #8917 that I’m proud of him)

My daughter’s budding interest in true crime

Boxed wine

Coffee with brown sugar (trust me on this)

Licorice (black, of course, but I’m open to all)

My dog’s adorable underbite

Spray-on dish soap

Oofos shoes (!!!)

Warm socks (with or without Oofos)

The crunch of snow underfoot

The fact that snow doesn’t stay around here forever

Twinkling lights

That first morning stretch

A supportive, caring community

People I love and who love me right back

Okay so maybe the last two were big.

Tell me, friends, what little (or medium or big) things are you thankful for?

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

32 thoughts on “Thanks a Little”

  1. My husband who has to do so many things around the house because of my disability.
    My son and his family, the joys of my life.
    My 3 brothers and my sister, my 3 nieces and nephew, and 2 great nieces.
    I had the best parents that I miss every day.
    And books that help get me through some tough times or just because I love to read.

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  2. Wishing you a great Thanksgiving, Kathy! I’m grateful that my older kiddo has a job they like, that younger kiddo landed a student teaching gig for next semester close to home, that my wife and I got to see so many musical acts this year, and for Maria-the kitty cat that keeps on giving, on her own terms, of course. Sláinte!

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  3. I am SO grateful and thankful for a wonderful family, who have been so helpful during this last year when my husband was so sick.
    I am thankful for the best group of friends that we could ever have.
    I am thankful for living in the country with all the wildlife that we see on almost a daily basis.
    And I am thankful for all of you cozy mystery authors for all the books that keep me distracted from the crazy world we live in.
    Happy Thanksgiving!
    Carol

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  4. It’s so wonderful seeing how much reading and our books mean to you! I feel the same way. Reading is the gift that keeps on giving and I am SOOOO grateful for it.
    I’m grateful for a ton of other stuff but I’ll narrow it down to one new event: grateful for our daughter’s first real job post-college!

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  5. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Kathy! Thank you for your little list of HUGE gratitude.

    Besides books and reading, I appreciate…
    Little: Cozy socks
    Big: Community (family, friends, and online)

    P.S. I’m also enjoying my Oofos sandals.

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  6. I’m thankful for family and friends first. Both keep me (minimally) sane.
    HRH- Her Royal Highness Daisy the Dachshund. She feels she’s the head of the household.

    Coffee– LOTS of coffee!
    books and music- also keeping me minimally sane.
    The fact that I can still be useful in small ways to others.
    XO

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    2. Tracy, I love that last one! I get a kick out of being able to lend a hand (two, actually, plus both legs AND my back) with the grandkids to make my son and DIL’s lives a tad less hectic and to make sure those two little imps know there are safe people and places in the world.

      Kathy, I love your list too … even the licorice. We licorice fans gotta stick together! Quick licorice story: my son was over the other day and had a box of Good N Plentys in the car that the little one was nibbling from. He told her they were stale and probably no good. I couldn’t imagine such a thing so I tasted one. They tasted exactly right. “Hmm,” he said. “Maybe I just don’t like them.” So I snatched them away and kept them for myself. Sigh. No, I didn’t, but now wish I had.

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  9. Such a fab list, Kathy! (And one great thing about spending Thanksgiving at a new place with new people is that you’ll get to taste DELICIOUS NEW FOOD!)

    As for me, besides food (natch), family, books, and our beautiful mystery writing and reading community, I’m also thankful for: dogs, sunshine on my face, comfy pillows, the coco palms I see outside my office window, my corrective lenses which allow me to see the aforesaid coco palms, and “Ted Lasso,” which always makes me smile.

    Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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  10. I am thankful for my family and friends, surviving COVID and the pandemic, having worked hard for 38 1/2 years and saving a lot and living life as I want in retirement, marrying my high school sweetheart and we are still together, my precious dog, and being alive and pretty well.

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  11. Loved this post, Kathy, and I couldn’t agree more with everything on your list (except maybe the licorice, but you can have mine). I hope that you enjoy your “new” Thanksgiving, and I know you will, because every family has their special traditions and it’s amazing when they share them with you. I never seem to know how to answer this question, b/c I am thankful for so many things. But this year I am especially thankful that we have all made it through some tough times (and some wonderful ones, too) over the last few years. I wonder what Present Thanksgiving Me would say to Past Thanksgivings Me who used worry about whether her veggie tray presentation was nice enough to place on the counter in our hosts’ lovely kitchen. But now I know the truth: No one cares that the carrots are crooked. They’re just happy to see you!

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