It’s another Thanksgiving and a national day of gratitude. And I’m especially thankful this year for the places I can visit, because I or someone else took a snapshot or video of them.

For the past month, I’ve been participating in a challenge to post something on my blog every day, as well as write 50,000 words. While I’m probably going to be just short of 50,000, (24,000 is still great though, and I wrote a book), I’ve enjoyed having the chance to explore different facets of what it means to have this blog and write here. I’ve especially enjoyed the opportunity to express my gratitude and share a few extra stories.

I decided to look inside this box this morning:

I was looking for Thanksgiving pictures specifically, but ended up taking a virtual trip down memory lane as we all usually do on Throwback Thursday on social media. I thanked God and my family and friends and colleagues for all the places I’ve been able to see. I was reminded of trips to the North Carolina mountains, amusement parks,shipyards and zoos. I saw old cars, old trees, old houses. Of course, I saw all the times I’ve gathered around meals with family.I scroll through my phone often and head back to college,  airports, train stations, beaches, museums and similar times of gathering with friends.

Even though we carry a lot of our memories on our phones, I hope that you have a picture box you can go back to on days like this, to reflect on all the places you’ve been and the places you have yet to go.

For me, it’s a reminder to capture as many moments as I can, because there’s always a place for joy and gratitude when you dig into your picture box and revisit all those places.

Happy Thanksgiving and I thank you for reading and taking this journey with me!