Happy Thanksgiving (Even in the Middle of a Pandemic!) 

2020 has been quite a year.  Pandemics, quarantines, murder hornets, wildfires, hurricanes, political unrest… it’s been a wild one.  For me, it started off strong, then all fell apart quickly.

One day everyone was business as usual and then over a weekend, we were forced to close.  Just as we start getting back to normal in our schools, it looks like many of us are being forced to close again.

As we head into the holiday season, I find myself dreading it a bit.  How can I possibly be thankful this year?  How can I celebrate anything?  We can’t travel, we can’t get together with our family and friends to celebrate.  And one of my favorite parts of thanksgiving is watching the Cowboys play football and the way they are playing this year, that isn’t very happy either!

Where is the joy?  What is there to be thankful for?

I want to continue in my misery.

And to be honest, that thought alone makes me more upset than anything.  I don’t want to be that person that lives in misery.  I want to be the person that is able to find joy in life, no matter what is thrown at them.

I think it is time to remember what I love about the holidays.  It may look different this year, but many of the things I love are still there.

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving is the food and that is still there.  The turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate pie.  Yummy!

I love time spent with family.  It is most likely on a much smaller scale, but it is still family.  And of course, there is always FaceTime or Zoom!   My sister and her family lives in Germany and one of the things we do each year is set the camera up so it can see the entire room; she does the same; and we have them up on our big screen TVS.  This way we all see each other and chat as if we were in the room together.  And it really does feel like they are hear with us.

I love the traditions of breaking out the Christmas Tree and decorating for the next awesome holiday.  That alone should start to spread some joy!

Truth is, I have amazing things in my life to be thankful for regardless of what is going on in life.

Despite the unrest, I am thankful to live in this great country.

I am thankful that I have a wonderful family and am blessed with fantastic friends.

I am thankful that through the pandemic and quarantine I work in an industry that found a way to stay open and working.  I am thankful that schools were able to find a way to continue to educate our students.

I am thankful to work with an amazing group of individuals at Milady who motivate and inspire me each and every day.  And one of the biggest blessings of the year is that because we are all working remotely, we have found ways to communicate and engage with each other and that has been awesome!

I am thankful that I still get to meet and work with so many talented educators such as yourself.   I’ve had Zoom calls and training with some of you AND I’ve been able to engage with you through the Milady Instructor Facebook group.

There is still a ton of things in life to be thankful for.

So, on behalf of the entire Milady team, I would like to wish each one of you a Happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your day, be safe, and remember all you have to be thankful for.