Life Is A Symphony

From this day, until January 1st is my favorite time of year. The scent of cinnamon and other spices fill the air, firmly embedding itself into the mind of the beholder. I remember as a child, my mother would open an old cedar trunk of my grandmother's where she kept a few Christmas decorations, including the always important, stockings. That is why cedar will forever remind me of Christmas and all the time spent with my mother in search of Christmas decorations. Everyone has their family traditions during this time of year and one of the ones I remember most was helping my mother decorate the Christmas tree. She had her quirks when it came to decorating so one of the most important rules was "the ugly ornaments go in the back." The decorations she saw as ugly, were always the ones I liked best. They were old and had more personality than most ornaments, so I often took the time to study each of them. Imagine how humbling it was for me to discover that many of these decorations were quite a bit older than I was.

It's not Christmas yet, but it is Thanksgiving. Most of us see it as a day in which we ingest large portions of food that later stage a revolt against our stomachs that causes us to reach for the Pepto. Today is a time of thanks for all of the blessings in your life, the people in it, the fact you can pay your bills, and the simple fact that you can even sit down for a full meal. Not everyone is as lucky as we are and it's shocking to think that even the poorest of Americans are still richer than the rest of the world. Take the time before you eat to truly think about the fact you have people that love you, you have a roof over your head, and you have something as simple as a pair of shoes.