My Thanksgiving Prayer

Dear God,

For at least one day each year,
we recite our blessings.
We recall the abundance
you pour into our lives;
we dedicate our thankfulness to you.

If I thanked you for each gift
as it appeared,
my dialogue with you
would have no end.

Desperate To Prove

I was sitting in a chair on my aunt's porch, where I help pass out Halloween candy every year. A maroon-colored scarf was wrapped around my head, the perfect accessory to my gypsy costume. As eager trick-or-treaters swamped her sidewalk, the father of a little boy raised his hand to wave at me. Recognizing him as one of my high school classmates, I immediately felt self-conscious about...

being thirty-three years old,
decked out in a Halloween ensemble,
enjoying the night as much as the kids were. 

He said hello, and I distractedly reached a hand to the scarf on my head and explained, "I dressed up too..."
 
Have you ever been there? Conscious of other people's opinions? Feeling the need to explain and prove yourself, your life, your choices?

I have....for more significant things than Halloween costumes.