Last updated on November 6, 2025
We lived in Colorado for 20 years, tucked between snow-capped mountains and open skies. It was beautiful, magical even. But if I’m being honest, Thanksgiving was often a little lonely.
The weather always had opinions that didn’t match our plans. Flights would get canceled. Driving to family became risky. Schedules got tight. Someone always had the sniffles or worse. Our loved ones were often states away, clinking glasses at tables we couldn’t reach. We’d sit in our own kitchen, grateful, yes, but wondering what we were missing. Wondering what it would feel like to just be surrounded by the people we loved most.
So maybe that’s why I hold this holiday with tender hands.
Because when I look around the table now—surrounded by family, the hum of conversation filling the room, plates passed, memories made—I don’t take it for granted. Not even for a second.
I look people in the eye and I say, “Thank you for being here today.” Not just in that casual way we all toss around words of gratitude. I mean it. I say it slowly. With presence. With awe. Because being here, really being here, is not something everyone gets.
Somewhere right now, someone is sitting alone. Maybe they’re grieving. Maybe they’re far from home. Maybe their family fractured somewhere along the way and gathering feels like a memory they can’t reclaim. Somewhere, someone’s heart is aching for the very thing you might be holding right now.
That’s why I say it out loud. That’s why I press my hand to theirs when I thank them for sitting across from me. We made it. We’re together. That’s worth celebrating.
Let me tell you something that might shift your whole holiday this year: presence is the real celebration.
Yes, the mashed potatoes are delicious. Yes, the cranberry sauce is either a homemade miracle or a jiggly delight that divides the room. Yes, the pies matter. But what matters most is how we show up for each other.
What if, just once this Thanksgiving, you set your fork down mid-bite and looked someone in the eyes? Really looked. Saw their age, their beauty, their stress, their heart. What if you said, “I’m so glad I get to be with you today”? What if that changed their entire week?
There are so many reasons we could miss each other in these moments. Screens. Stress. Old stories. Family dynamics that make it easier to keep things surface-level. But healing—true, heart-based healing—asks something more from us. It asks us to notice. To name the sacredness of being alive and together.
So this Thanksgiving, I’m calling on the middle moments. The ones where no one is making a speech or carving a turkey or trying to post the perfect Instagram story. The ones in between where someone reaches for your hand. Where your aunt tells a story you forgot you loved. Where a child giggles for no reason. Where someone breathes deep and smiles because for this one moment, things feel right.
These are the moments that carry us.
I once read that memories don’t form from the big events, but from the feelings attached to small ones. I believe that. I believe healing happens in the soft glances, the quiet laughs, the comfortable silences. Healing happens when we stop performing and start connecting.
This is my invitation to you: Make Thanksgiving a presence holiday.
Tell your people you’re glad they exist. Hug a little longer. Smile with your whole face. Offer to do the dishes even if it’s not your job. Sit next to someone who seems quieter than usual. Ask a good question. Stay a few minutes longer at the end of the night just to hold the energy a little more.
And if you’re the one spending this day without your people, please hear this from me—you are not forgotten. You are not overlooked. I have been there too, and my heart reaches for yours. Light a candle, eat something you love, write a letter to yourself or to someone you miss. Make this day a gentle pause for your soul. Let it whisper to you, “Even here, I am held.”
The table is just furniture. The presence is the feast.
May we all be more present this year. May we speak our love out loud. May we feel the magnitude of time well spent with those we cherish.
And may we never forget to look up, lock eyes, and say from the depths of our being:
“Thank you for being here with me today.”
Be well,
Leslie
About the Author
Leslie Nance is a Holistic Cancer Coach, Certified Holistic Nutritionist, speaker, and author. She helps women heal with clarity, courage, and soul. Writing and teaching about mindset, wellness, and living a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside.
