This Thanksgiving feels a little different… a little heavier… and a lot more real. With so many families going into November unsure of when they’d be able to buy groceries, and food banks struggling to keep up, it made me pause and really sit with what Thanksgiving gratitude means this year.

I’m thankful for my community… the people who quietly care and show up without needing to be asked. When my boss learned that families in our area might go without food, she immediately started a food drive at the gym. She even gave food from her own home to employees who needed it. Then we brought in CASA Giving Trees to help even more kids this season. Moments like these remind me how lucky I am to have a second home at Motion Matrix.

I’m also aware of the privilege in being able to say I’m thankful when so many families are just trying to make it through the month. That awareness isn’t lost on me… it makes me want to show up for my community even more.

And while life feels heavy in a lot of ways, I’m reminded every day how much beauty surrounds me. Driving through the valley, the views always bring me back to myself… reminding me how lucky I am to live somewhere that feels calm and grounding, even on the days when everything else feels loud.

I’m thankful for my little family… my partner who works so hard for us, my son who brings me so much joy, and my mom who loves him like her own. Between Brian and I, I’m grateful we can give our son a childhood that feels warm and steady… not perfect, but full of the things that matter.

And I’m thankful for my friends who keep me grounded… and for all of you who show up here, read along, and support me while I rediscover who I am and try to build something that might one day support our family. Sharing pieces of my life with you has become something I genuinely look forward to… it feels like its own little community.

This year, gratitude looks like real life… community stepping up, families doing their best, people helping people… and honestly, that feels like enough.