BY DEBBIE NAZARIAN, LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL DIRECTOR

Thanksgiving may look much different this year than we ever could have imagined. Many families, including mine, will not celebrate a typical Thanksgiving with all the family together, endless varieties of delicious food thanks to everyone bringing their own special dish, wonderful chaos from all the kids running about, great conversations, watching football and the Macy’s parade together, and best of all warm hugs all around. Although it’s easy to feel disappointed and sad that most of us will be apart this Thanksgiving, I think it’s more important than ever to be mindful of all the many things that we can be thankful for.

Our staff loves to celebrate birthdays and holidays together and this year, instead of a Thanksgiving pot luck lunchtime feast, our Party Planning Committee planned a virtual happy hour for everyone to get together, catch up on what we have been up to personally, laugh, play a fun game, and share something we are all thankful for. It was pretty special because our group is much more like a family than a group of employees.

I’m grateful for technology that allows us to connect with friends and family when being together physically isn’t possible or safe, and I’m grateful to work with people I truly love and respect. I’m also so grateful for all our amazing City Directors across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and even Bermuda.  It is an honor and a joy to work with them on such an important and rewarding program. I’m so looking forward to 2021 when we will be able to be together again in person at our September conference!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone…we wish you all a wonderful day full of smiles, laughter and good food!

Claire, Taylor, Meghan, Colleen, and Debbie

I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.  For more information about Lemonade Day, please visit www.lemonadeday.org.