October 12, 2026Monday, October 12, 2026

Just a thought… The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. [F. Scott Fitzgerald]

On this Thanksgiving Day, I won’t just sit here and count my blessings: I know you have your own, and I do that every day (and often here) anyway.

There are a few things – and people – I want to briefly shine a light on.

You know that 84-year-old with the parrot “boyfriend” I told you about here last week? Well, this weekend we had our first turkey dinner in the cabin. It was going to be just Rob and me but we decided to check if our sprightly neighbour was seeing family this weekend. She wasn’t, and joined us for a delightful dinner. Turkey, stuffing, squash, potatoes, whipped cauliflower (a delightful low carb side for me) and, of course, Rob’s favourite: a Costco pumpkin pie. Oh, it was – and still is – glorious.

Yesterday our sweet grandson Colin, the gift Lauren left behind, turned an unbelievable 12 years old. But it was we who received the gift: nearly an hour of FaceTime in his room as he gave us a show-and-tell of his gifts, purchases, and the random facts about countries that he was learning from a book from his other grandmother. Only the dogs pestering relentlessly made us wrap up the call, which was all we could have hoped for. Our hearts were heavy, but light – if that makes any sense at all.

It reminded me of something that my pal and podcast partner Lisa sent me a few weeks back, that two things can be true: you can be sad and grateful at the same time. We live our lives with one foot in the lane of missing Lauren every hour of every day, while the other steps lightly through the gifts of the present and towards a future that Rob and I are both grateful for.

I used to worry that people who don’t know me might think I was too lighthearted or happy or joyful given what Rob and I have gone through in the past 11 years of our lives. But that’s like starting a book halfway through and thinking you know our story (something for which there’s no excuse, given that I actually wrote a damned book about the whole experience).

Grief is a part of us that we wear like lines on our faces, and one that no amount of botox, booze or running away will ever diminish. (For that matter, alcohol just makes them worse. WAY worse. Not to mention what it does to our brains and the rest of our bodies.)

We’ll talk about grief with anyone who wants to have a side conversation during our AMA Christmas markets river cruise next year, in a safe space where people just want to open their hearts. Lisa is going to do a casual chat about the ins and outs of self-publishing a book (with which she has much experience) and, of course, we’ll have a lot of lighthearted fun.

Here’s your reminder that you only have just over two more weeks to book and get a big discount, as the Queenagers set sail through Germany, Austria and Hungary on the Danube. Here’s a link if you’d like more information.

Oh, and if you’re on the fence of have any questions at all, we’re having a Zoom call on Saturday at 2 pm Eastern Time to let folks who want to share a cabin meet potential roommates. Drop us an email at gracefullyandfrankly.com or watch for details there and on our G&F Facebook page. We would love to make this a big deal, and Lisa and I are so excited for you to join us. Think November 2027 is too far away to plan? Have you seen how time has flown this year????

Anyway, on that happy note, let me share with you a few pictures of our Thanksgiving weekend. I already posted a deer eating apples I’d swing from a tree to treat him with at www.facebook.com/erindavispage – about the only nature that I have compared to the vistas in Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes and Newfoundland at this time of year. Enjoy the beauty and have a lovely week. Lisa and I will talk to you Thursday on the podcast.