Dear Friends,

When I returned from New York, my mailbox was stuffed with women's magazines.  Each one is filled with more holiday recipes than I can use in a lifetime.  I don't mind though, because I need all the help I can get this Thanksgiving.  This is the first year I'll be roasting a turkey.  The first time ever.  Really.

My mother always made a great Thanksgiving dinner.  My sister picked up the holiday tradition and ran with it.  I've just always showed up at someone's house, ordered in, or eaten out.  This year I'm making a change.  Change is good, right?

Yes . . . and no.  Many people who come to see me are experiencing the holidays for the first time since a loved one passed.  This kind of change can be very hard.  I recently had a woman ask her mother in spirit, "How can I raise my kids without you?"

People ask questions like this a lot.  My work as a medium allows loved ones in spirit to remind us that they continue to share in all life's celebrations.  Spirit communication acknowledges that although things have changed, relationships (and love) aren't destroyed by death.

It can be a stretch to feel grateful on Thanksgiving when we're missing someone.  This has inspired me to write this month's article from a different perspective altogether, that of the spirits. 

May the thanks of loved ones in spirit give you a reason to be thankful in return.

Hollister Rand  

Thank you for inviting me to celebrations and holiday dinners.  As family and friends gather, I'm right there in the middle of it all.  (If an orb, mist, or streak of light appears in one of your photos, that's me, smiling.) 

When you try to make one of my special holiday recipes, I'll stand beside you in the kitchen.  (It's okay if it doesn't turn out exactly right; let's just have fun together.)

Thank you for your laughter, which resounds throughout the universe and brings your joy to my feet.

Thank you for forgiveness.  As you invite it into your own life, the choices of the past (mine as well as yours) no longer determine our future.

Thank you for planting a tree, raising money for a favorite cause, or supporting science for a cure from the disease that took me from you.  These memorials not only bring beauty and hope to others, but give me a living place on earth.

Thank you for introducing me to the newest family members with pictures and stories.  I watch each little one grow and appreciate how family traits find new expression in the next generation.  (Yes, I know that one of them has my eyes and another will be stubborn, just like me!) 

Thank you for sharing your fond memories of good times we've shared together.  Each memory is like a cord which connects us heart to heart in that moment.

But most of all, thank you for your love.  It is the one thing light enough for me to carry always.