11-07-2022 4:31am

Celebrate Thanksgiving by Sharing "Tiny Moments"

by Jane Stahl

Tiny moments. Life is all tiny moments. True this.

The Boyertown Area Expression invites you to share your story about your tiny moments. We—and our readers—will enjoy reading them and each day count down to the celebration of Thanksgiving.

You can send your stories to expressioneditor1@gmail.com or janeEstahl@comcast.net or add them to the site on your own: boyertownareaexpression.town.news

Now that the excitement of Halloween is behind us, it is time for my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is all about the food. And family. And stopping the world for a day just to remember to be thankful. My family traditionally spent Thanksgiving in our pajamas before heading out in late afternoon to enjoy a feast prepared by someone else before coming home again to our pajamas.

We love that the Thanksgiving holiday requires so little: there are no contests devoted to decorating the house or property, no gifts to buy, no cards to write, no special services to attend. And because we’re not fond of shopping, throughout “Black Friday,” “Small Business Saturday,” Sunday, and the Monday after Thanksgiving—a day in our area was always dedicated to the start of hunting season, we stayed home and read, poured over “Wish List” catalogues, and watched movies until our minds turned to mush—rarely leaving the living room (or our pajamas). These are great memories of tiny moments.

Tell us your stories. Meanwhile, here’s mine.

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I must admit: COVID’s lockdown provided months of tiny moments for which I’m thankful—not by choice, of course. But the lockdown did a bit to slow down our pace, sharpen our skills at living in the moment, and create a longing to take the time to relish tiny moments.

One of those moments occurred recently on the morning of our 54th wedding anniversary. Just the two of us, having coffee on the deck, protected by grand old maple trees, surrounded by flowering shrubs, an occasional comment from the resident bullfrog, and the sight of my beloved grandpuppy searching for her buried biscuit, I reminded my husband that when we married, there were lotteries created among friends and family members betting on how long our marriage would last. Nobody thought it would. (Admittedly, there have been days when we agreed!) Yet, here we are, 54 years later.

In that moment I commented to my husband, “I knew what I was doing.” He, in an unusual moment for him, agreed with me. And in that tiny moment we celebrated our anniversary before going about the rest of our day. No party. No expensive dinner out. No gifts. Just a tiny, beautiful moment filled with young…and old…love, memories of joy and heartbreak, present struggles and the pain of aging, and the contentment of knowing we’ve done the best we could. It was a beautiful moment and a memory I’ll treasure as long as my memory holds!