Each Thanksgiving, we gather with family, or with friends who have become family. While food may be one of the reasons for this, Thanksgiving has a deeper meaning than just overeating.

In between dinner and football, we have time to talk, laugh and tell stories of years past. We fellowship and remind ourselves of all that we have to be thankful for.

This year will be different for my family. Two weeks before Thanksgiving, my mother suddenly became ill and passed away. After losing our father nearly three years ago, my mother's death was shocking and devastating. My brothers, sisters and I were hit with the knowledge that life as we knew it had changed forever.

My family is by no means perfect. We have made our mistakes and fought. But we were close to our parents, who did the best they could to raise us in a loving household and give us everything we needed.

This will be the first holiday season that our mother and father will not be there. Thursday will be the first time we won't have that familiar comfort, smile or love that greeted us on this yearly get-together.

But even in sadness, we will gather around my grandmother's table, and we will have more than just a moment of remembrance for those who will not sit down to eat with us. It will be a strange new world as we go through the holiday season and into the new year without them.

Yet, even with this great sadness weighing on me, I am thankful for many things in my life.

I'm thankful for my wife, Lacey, who has been a source of strength and comfort. Her love has made this new world easier to navigate because she was beside me.

Thanks to my parents, I have learned how much work goes into a successful marriage. They also showed me just how much two people can really love each other. It is just one of the many lessons they passed on to my siblings and me.

I'm thankful for my daughter, Molly. She impresses me each day with how much she has learned. Her confidence allows her to have no fear as she grows, learns and explores the world around her. My daughter's hugs and love always come when I need them the most.

Finally, I'm thankful for my family, my grandmother, uncles, aunts, and especially my brothers and sisters. We all pull strength from each other when we are together.

This Thanksgiving will be one of stories and sadness, but some of that sadness will be abated by all of us coming together. Mainly this Thanksgiving will be one of loving each other.

As all of you sit down with your family and friends to eat and then watch the games, remember that we will all disagree and fight, and even talk smack in long-running sports rivalries. But let each other know that you love and care about one another.

I have learned the past three years that there is no guarantee that the people you dine with this Thanksgiving will be there next year. Do not miss or waste this chance to forgive, forget and love each other.

Happy Thanksgiving.

SPORTS FACT OF THE WEEK

The Miami Dolphins are the only team other than the Dallas Cowboys to win a Thanksgiving Day game and the Super Bowl in the same season. They did it in 1973 when they beat the Cowboys 14-7 and then won Super Bowl VIII over the Minnesota Vikings.