A Year of Gratitude – September 8, 2024

I found my gratitude gathered around the family dinner table tonight. Being at the table with the people I love is reason enough for gratitude. I only had to look across the table to see what I was most grateful for.

I was also thankful for the food at our table tonight. I made homemade mozzarella stuffed meatballs for dinner, a favorite of mine. They simmered in a sauce made with our homegrown tomatoes, making them an extra special treat this evening.

As we passed around the garlic bread, the conversation at the table turned to laughter. It was the sort of laughter that seems to grow, where one person’s laugh melts into another until everyone is laughing. We laughed enough that Penny Lane got up from her nap on the sofa to come see what was going on.

When the laugh subsided, the sound of forks on plates became the background noise to conversation. I looked up, moving my gaze from person to person until I had scanned the entire table. I looked down at my feet and saw that Penny had decided to curl up on the floor right beside my chair.

Everything I need was right there in the room with me. There was so much love, so much contentment in being in each other’s company. I felt my heart swell with gratitude of the very easiest kind: for my family. A delicious homemade meal was merely a bonus.

You can find my recipe for Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs right here.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.