Thankful for Family

This week, as many US citizens gather for the US Thanksgiving holiday, I thought this week the appropriate week to speak of being thankful for family. It is as much a celebration of family as it is a harvest feast this week. But I should mention that for my generation "family" doesn't automatically mean the nuclear one (although it may, in both senses of the word) but also the family of our choosing or invitation.
As newly weds, my wife and I first spent three years away from any extended family of our own, but found ourselves invited into the rich and warm "family" of fellow grad-students or close friends. I also know that for my wife, growing up away from extended family, their family tradition was to invite those who were away from extended relations to join them, in the process extending their own family.
This year, we have the fortune and great joy to be able  to travel and spend time with my extended family.
Wherever you find yourself this Thanksgiving, may you count yourself fortunate, too, especially in the things to be thankful for.
Blessed Be,
Joel