In my email this morning from my aunt: "There is a client at [homeless shelter] who works for us an hour or two each morning cleaning our office.→[More:]..."For the sake of confidentiality, I'll call her 'Donna'. Donna is homeless and she cannot read or write.

"The other day I greeted her much as I do every morning, saying 'Good Morning Donna. How are you today?' She replied, as she does nearly every morning with a smile and in a very pleasant voice: 'I'm just fine. How are you?' I then asked her if she had a place to stay. She said; 'Oh, no not really. But we are really lucky. We have our car and some friends are letting us park our car at their place. And we have plenty of blankets so we are nice and warm. And we are able to get a hotel on paydays for a night or two. So all in all, we are doing OK.' On those nights when she and her husband, and their dog, are able to get a motel, Donna feels like she is living in luxury. And rest assured that the motel they get is not the Marriott or the Hilton, but rather one of Albuquerque's 'fine' establishments on west central.

"I was struck by Donna's response, because she is sleeping in her car and is considering herself lucky. And because she comes in after spending a cold night in her car with a smile on her face asking how I am. There are days when I go into work feeling grumpy because my sleep was interrupted by a barking dog—or because I had to wait in line at Starbucks for longer than usual. I cannot imagine how 'grumpy' I would be if I had no place to sleep except for an old car or on my best nights, a flea bag motel.

"I told this story at Church last Sunday as part of a celebrant offering. The sermon that morning was Being thankful for what we've got and for what we didn't get. A few days later, Mark, our pastor, mentioned to me that the story had really struck him. And that he had been thinking and wondering about Donna's 'friends'. He said 'I kept wondering what kind of friends would let someone sleep in their car on their property, but not in their home-and why? But then, I thought I don't have any room to judge the friends. After all, I'm not even letting them, or anyone, park in my driveway to sleep. So I'm offering less than they are'.

"Yesterday, I again asked Donna how she was. In an uncharacteristic way, Donna replied, 'Well, actually I am a little tired today', and she looked not so good either. But then she turned and smiled and said 'But how are you today?' I asked if she had anywhere to go for Thanksgiving. If she had any family or anyone to go and see. She said, 'No. I don't have any family. Well, actually I do have family but they don't like me much.' I replied that I could not imagine why they wouldn't like her, that she is such a nice and pleasant woman. Then Donna left and went on with her work. Later, Donna took me and hugged me and thanked me for taking the time to talk to her.

"Once again, I was struck by Donna's reaction. Our entire interaction took no more than 2 or 3 minutes. Yet, to her it was significant and was yet something else for which she was thankful.

"On this Thanksgiving morning, I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you, my dear family. For all you do and for all you are. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with such good people."

[follows a personal giving of thanks to each of us.]