Gratitude Party

I haven't written in a  while, the reason for which I won't go into here, but let's just say that I felt stymied by circumstances, and every time I thought about writing a post, I froze.  I'm slowly, but surely working through and trying to find my way back to my blog. I love it here, and I've missed it so.

Something I saw the other day on my telenovela, Cuando Me Enamoro, which I'm terribly sorry to say is about to end, really stuck with me and I thought I would share it with you. Bear with me, please, as the story is incredibly convoluted, as only telenovelas can be.

The main character's name is Renata and she was stolen at birth by a woman, Pepa, who was having an affair with Renata's father, Roberto. Renata's real name when she was stolen was Regina. Regina's mom, Regina (I know, right?) has been searching for her for 25 years, while Pepa (really Josephina) has raised her alongside her daughter, born the same day as Regina (Renata), named Roberta, after her father. Pepa was waiting until Regina/Renata's 25th birthday, when she would come into a fortune from Roberto, who left money in his will for Regina but not Roberta. Oh, and Pepa killed Roberto when she found out about the will...and then she killed about 20 other people, but that's a totally different plot line.  So Pepa gets Regina to pay a bunch of money in ransom, and then falsifies the DNA samples, so that she thinks her real daughter is Roberta, who is totally in on The Plan, so that they can make off with the money, and leave Renata & Regina, whom they hate, with nothing. 

When Regina finally finds (who she thinks is) her daughter, she calls everyone together, family and friends, to meet at the basilica in Mexico City to offer prayers of gratitude to the Virgin of Guadalupe, to whom she had been asking assistance for 25 years, and then has a little party at her house afterwards.  

I have thought about that scene several times since I saw it. What strikes me is the idea of a Gratitude Party - to get together with loved ones for no other reason than to be really GRATEFUL for all of the good in our lives, and then to celebrate it with food and drink. Can you imagine the positive juju that would flow from an event such as this?  It might sound a lot like Thanksgiving to you, but in my mind it's so much more (and less work) than that.  Maybe even making some sort of ritual, like lighting a candle or something like that, and sending out a prayer or strong thought of thanks out into the Universe.

I'm going to think on it some more, and if anyone has ideas that would make a super duper Gratitude Party, I'd love to hear them!