Maybe you’re celebrating with friends or family today or settling down with a beloved pet or a Hallmark movie. Maybe you’re out there on the front lines at a shelter or a protest, doing your bit to make this a better world. Wherever you are today, I’d like to reach out and wish you a warm and healthy holiday*. I hope to have one, and in that spirit, I’m sharing the following:

I am thankful:

for my brother-in-law and his partner’s hosting (and cooking!) – and that we are all vaccinated and can gather this year

for the pie that seems to have come out as it should

for my loved ones who will do their best to eat it and compliment me either way

for the writing community that has held me up and encouraged me over a rough year

for the bunnies in our yard (even if they do eat everything)

for the people who read my books

for the ones who send me notes – or pictures of their cat

for unexpected beauty everywhere

for health and love

for you!

Happy Thanksgiving*, all!

*The majority of Americans – even those of us whose families only came over in the last center or so – celebrate this as Thanksgiving. For many Native Americans, today is considered, instead, a day of mourning, commemorating centuries of genocide. However, the idea of a harvest festival – a celebration of life’s bounty – is universal, and I hope that is something we can all share.