AH to be home in the US for the Thanksgiving holidays! I only wish I could describe the glorious chaos of 20 relatives, 18 chairs and one dishwasher.

And try as I might it's impossible to put into words just how FULL I am right now. My stomach reached maximum capacity halfway into the first course, leaving me with no alternative but to reroute all incoming pumpkin pie direct to my lungs.

Luckily my right index finger is still mobile and -- in between laborious pumpkin breaths -- I'm able to key in these words.

For as long as I can remember, my family has had a tradition at Thanksgiving: After the meal (but before the mass migration from the table to the sofa and the ongoing football game) we'd all go around the table and each name one thing we were thankful for.

As a kid it was always a dreaded chore. Oh sure, it was easy enough if you were one of the first to be called upon but, with repetition being discouraged, once all the obvious ones were taken (friends, family etc.) you had to be awfully creative - and a lot more specific.

I recall a year when I was appreciative for the extra marshmallows Aunt Carol had commissioned for the fruit salad, and another year when I was eternally indebted to the faculty flu-bug that had postponed my science test.

It didn't help that all contributions were subject to quality control. I won't name names but a certain younger sibling once learned the hard way there are no points for yelling "I'm thankful for boogers."

This year, though, coming up with something to be grateful for wasn't nearly so much of a stretch.

Which is good because, with the amount of turkey I just ate, stretching really isn't an option.

These days I have not one but TWO countries to call home -- with friends and family in each.

I used to consider that a bad thing -- it meant, wherever I was, I would always be homesick for somewhere else.

But now I realise that missing something is the single greatest way of appreciating it.

My life is richer not because of what I have, but because of what I've had and lost, only to savour it all the more on its return.

And if that doesn't sum up the spirit of Thanksgiving, I don't know what does.