Today, I’m grateful in a way that is sometimes hard for me to put into words.

I’m watching my kids, mostly grown now but still wide-eyed in the spirit of Christmas morning. The same familiar magic is there. The laughter. The way time seems to slow down just enough to let the moment happen. It hits me how rare that really is.

There were years I wasn’t sure I would be here for this. Years where life felt unstable, where survival took up all the space, and where the future felt like something I wasn’t allowed to picture too clearly. I didn’t know if I would get mornings like this. I didn’t know if I would get to be present for them.

And yet here we are.

What I’m grateful for isn’t just that they’re here. It’s that they can still feel it. The magic didn’t get crushed by disappointment or hardened by the world. They still allow joy in. They still believe something good can exist without needing to explain it away. That kind of openness is a gift.

I also see my own growth reflected back at me. I’m not rushing through today. I’m not distracted. I’m not numb. I’m here. Fully here. Watching. Taking it in. Letting gratitude land instead of brushing past it.

Christmas has a way of reminding us what really matters when the noise drops out. Not perfection. Not how everything turned out. Just presence. Just love. Just the people in front of you.

If you’re reading this today and your day looks different, I want you to know that gratitude doesn’t erase what’s hard. It doesn’t deny what was lost. It simply anchors you to what is still good and still real.

Today, I’m choosing to sit in that gratitude. To notice it because these moments are not guaranteed, and I don’t want to miss a second of them.

Merry Christmas!