"Over the river and through the woods...

...to Grandmother's house we go."

Dear Diary,

It is Thanksgiving Day and there is so much to be thankful for.  I learned a new word yesterday and it seem so appropriate to this day.  Hiraeth is a Welsh word that is very difficult to translate into English but basically in means a yearning for the lost places of your past.  I think most of us have that feeling on Thanksgiving Day, the desire to go home again even if that home no longer exists.

This is an old photograph of my grandfather's childhood farm.  He often spoke of it when I was young and there was always a certain look in his eyes when he did.  My grandmother too, near the end of her life, spoke with such longing for the old farm she grew up on.  As a young person I never understood this, now, I do. 

As I gather with friends this afternoon to celebrate this day of thanksgiving I will also be going home, in my heart.  We always do on this day because no matter how far you have traveled or how much time has passed, there is always a strong homing instinct in us all and today is a day to give into it if only in our minds.