Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of gratitude — a moment to pause, breathe, gather, and give thanks. But some years, gratitude doesn’t come easily. Some years, the losses and the lessons weigh as heavily as the blessings. Some years stretch us so thin that “thankful” feels like a word that belongs to other people, living other lives. This year was one of those years for me. It was a year of endings I didn’t choose and transitions I didn’t want. A year where doing the ri