Often holidays are filled with tension (perhaps waiting for hours in an airport, commuting three hours in traffic on what is usually a 45-minute drive, having to cook a large dinner and then having people cancel at the last minute, debates over politics and faith at the dinner table). Still, perhaps the biggest tension comes from unmet expectations. We expect all things to go well and have a holiday season like in a television special. Life we learn continually is not a sitcom.

Thanksgiving is a time of enormous gratitude for me. Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day my father was released from the hospital after receiving a liver transplant from a donor who remains anonymous to this day. Two years removed from that experience I've reflected on the significance of the gift of this organ donation and its significance for me and my family.

Perhaps the lesson I most learned from that "Thanksgiving of Organ Donations" is that my expectation should be to love life, friends, and laughter. The faith, religion, age, gender of that generous organ donor were not at the center of my gratitude. Rather, that she or he gave the greatest gift, "life." So this holiday season your family and friends may not give you the gift you expected they may not agree with you politically or ideologically, or agree about anything. Still be grateful for their life and expect only that love is its own reward.

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