When my sisters Ana Fe, Lehn and I lived in Madrid many, many years ago, we gladly adopted some Spanish customs and incorporated them into our very own practices in the Philippines. Years later, when I married my American husband Glenn, I too embraced a number of their time-honored traditions, one of which is celebrating thanksgiving every fourth Thursday of November.
For 34 years we have opened our home to our families and dear friends to share in this joyous occasion. In addition to our regular guests such as the Rotaeches, the Mill Ivings, Mayen Tan, Toto Locsin and my siblings Edu and Ramon Jarque, we were delighted to have Freddie Alquiros, a longtime resident of Baguio join us.
As in the past our menu remained basically the same adhering to the celebration. But this time around Freddie, a chef by passion, graciously volunteered to prepare the turkey in addition to the pumpkin soup with flakes of tinapa and green salad with lots of condiments. Bashfully he accepted the warm felicitations for a truly enchanting gastronomic meal.
At the end of a most enjoyable evening, we were all in agreement that in this over-stimulated society we live in, we should never underestimate the power of gratitude. After all, appreciation is the key to happiness.
As the famous theologian Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer we ever say is thank you, “it will be enough.”