Tomorrow, may your heart be full

Here’s hoping that your Thanksgiving tomorrow is filled with equal measures of food and love.

That the turkey isn’t undercooked. That the fresh pumpkin pie melts in your mouth. That your post-feast nap arrests you only after the guests have gone.

That the Bears beat the Lions.

If these are the pleasant sort of holiday visions dancing in your head, know that you’re blessed. For so many, there will be little or none of the above.

Think about those whose lives have been devastated by the California fires. That’s one event that clearly was on the mind of columnist Dr. James Burns, who will share his Thanksgiving thoughts and prayers with you in a front page column tomorrow.

Think about those who will have an empty chair at the table, a chair that had been occupied by a loved one in years past.

Jah-ye shomah khalee is a Persian saying uttered reverently at our Thanksgiving table as we think of a deceased son and our other children who simply can’t be with us. It means, “Your place is empty.” Maybe you can say it at your table, too, thinking of those whose place in your heart will always be reserved even if their physical presence is absent.

Think of those who have lost so much and live now under the cold shadow of loneliness. We are social beings, so there might be no gift greater than that of positive attention and interaction. Even a kind word or smile to a stranger can make that cold shadow melt away.

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough,” somebody once said.

Here’s hoping that this Thanksgiving, you have enough of everything that matters.