Even though we do not officially celebrate Thanksgiving in Venezuela, like Halloween and many other celebrations, at some point in our history, this one was also adopted. Even the Black Friday consumerist debauchery was adopted and actually celebrated this year amid the most horrendous economic picture and the highest inflation in the planet, which goes to prove that the very word problem depends on how one looks at things.
I do have warm memories of some Thanksgiving celebrations from the time I spent in the US, which provided me with chances to reflect about my life and the gifts we take for granted.
San Luis Beach from the Bordones Hotel. Cumaná. My pictures
In the last weeks my family, spread as it is and isolated by the pandemic and many other issues, has celebrated multiple events, especially birthdays.
A nephew, two nieces, two brothers, my mother-in-law, and more recently my mother, have seen the light of a new year in their lives and in ours. We have been able to unite in the distance and make additional efforts to remind ourselves how much we should value and love each other.
My mother just turned 81 and even though she has been having all kinds of health issues and depression has hit her hard after more than a year without being able to see her children who are still in the country and more that 3 years without meeting those who migrated, she still found the strength to give us a smile, a word of wisdom, tell us a joke, and (I don't know how) she even got some strength to dance on her birthday party (and she was already strugling to walk without a cane).
My children are doing well, health wise especially. My son in Perú has a job, his wife too, and that is a reason to be thankful for when we see news of fellow countrymen who have struggled in the different countries where they ended up migrating. We know of people without jobs, without a roof over their heads, abused by local authorities or angry, selfish, and ignorant hosts, striken by diseases, or defeated by helplessness.
They keep discovering talents and strengths that they probably might not have been forced to, had this never happened.
One of 
I am also thankful for all the people who have somehow contributed to making every day a day worth living. They are the ones who send you a joke over Whatsapp, provide helpful information about a responsible repairperson, offer help unconditionally, offer a job opportunity, or just behave like responsible citizens so that one can still keep some faith in humankind.
I am also thankful for #Hive, a window to the world, a world of opportunities, a lifesaver in the darkest moments, a source of inspiration, friends, and fun.
Living in Venezuela is a constant struggle. We feel every day the need to wear an armor to fight known and unknown monsters every single day. It may feel at times like a perennial dark cloud looming over us.
But, like this dark cloud that particular day, it eventually goes away and makes room for light and beauty.
