Giving Thanks for Open Doors

As an icebreaker question, I was recently asked about a favorite Thanksgiving memory.

I shared the story of the time my family moved across country, from Milwaukee to Tampa, and one of my father’s new co-workers invited us all to his home for Thanksgiving. He had known my dad for only about two weeks, but even as a teenager, I could understand that he must have felt sorry that our family would be alone on the holiday. So, on Thanksgiving afternoon, we left our still partially-furnished new house, and my dad carefully navigated our pine green Ford station wagon to Mr. Diaz’s, in a place called Ybor City. I can only imagine the sight of four turkey-mashed potatoes-and-gravy Midwesterners carrying a pumpkin pie topped with Cool Whip into a Cuban family celebration overflowing with lechon asado, frijoles negros and fried plantains. But we were welcomed as if we were long-lost family members and enveloped by a new world of food, music and friends.

Musician Lionel Hampton once observed that “gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not the mind.” My appreciation for the extraordinary kindness of Mr. Diaz’s open door has grown ever warmer in my heart over the intervening decades.

This is the season for giving thanks, and I can never thank you enough for the doors you open every day for our students, colleagues and community. The grace and generosity, the talent and dedication, the care and compassion you bring to NOVA finds a place in all our hearts. Thank you!

I wish you a holiday filled with open doors that lead to the warmth of family and friends!

Anne