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MAKE TIME
Making time for the people we love in our lives is critical, but so are the traditions that go along with them. The traditions add to the richness of life overall, otherwise we’re just going through the motions and there’s not a lot of meaning. It’s easy to think the traditions don’t matter, but they have more impact on a happy family life than you probably realize. Knocking off early from work so you can bake a pie with your kids, watch a favorite holiday classic, or ordering up rolled tacos with guacamole that you eat each year before the big Thanksgiving feast…. all significant.
The blues that many experience at this time of the year are about loneliness, difficult holiday memories; or lack thereof, and having nowhere to go. Don’t assume anyone has a place to be this year. Asking “what are you doing for Thanksgiving” is a wellness check we do as part of our holiday traditions.

I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU
Share your traditions and embrace new ones. Some of the best times in our lives are when we sit down with old friends and family and reminisce about our past, and even better if you can put aside the painful memories and be open to new ones. Each year we can rewrite the holidays and even if your holidays have always been great, I challenge you to reach out to someone who could use some rewriting in their lives.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES, SHARE THEM
Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday. I grew up in San Francisco, and remember playing outside all day in the neighborhood, keeping busy while my mom slaved away in the kitchen. She liked to do it herself, and what a rock star she was. She’d get up at 5am and start the four pies she always made: pumpkin, apple, mincemeat, and cherry cheese. We were a family of six and each of us liked something different; and Thanksgiving was about everyone getting at least one thing they loved. I can still smell the cold crisp day in the city that November tended to bring. Leaves were turning colors. The memories are so sharp when smell is involved. I am forever grateful to my parents for creating amazing holidays for my sisters and me. To this day my family creates the same over-the-top pie collection on Thanksgiving Day that was started decades ago.

My kids and husband have created some new traditions including inviting close friends and the occasional person with nowhere to go to our Thanksgiving table. We like to live by the motto “there is always room for one more,” even when that one more shows up five minutes before dinner time.” It’s happened! We feel blessed to be able to help someone create new memories of a happy Thanksgiving.

YOU ARE THE DRIVER
It can be hard to be thankful or grateful this past year if you’ve lost a loved one, a job, experienced an illness or all of the above, but it’s our responsibility to create our life each day. “Responding with ability” (Dr. Wayne Dyer) puts us back in control of the life we’ve worked hard to carve out, and helps us see the beauty, opportunity, and things to be grateful for. So, as you sit down to your Thanksgiving Feast, don’t forget to create happy memories and traditions that last a lifetime. Age Well.

Jacqui Clark is a Certified Senior Advisor™ (CSA™) consultant with Living Coastal Senior Resources, and co-founder of Aging Well Partners. She is an industry leading living-and-aging well expert, and a respected communications specialist. She’s lived in San Diego for 35 years, much of that in Carlsbad where she and her husband live with their two daughters. Find Jacqui at www.agingwellpartners.com