Giving Thanks in a foreign setting

I never really thought about Thanksgiving and it's meaning until yesterday. Yes, I know I've lived through 19 Thanksgivings and perhaps should have given this some more thought before now, but I think that being confronted with a culture that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, or understand it, really made me reflect on why I missed having it and why it's important to American culture. My whole life I kind of just joked about how it was all about food and just another excuse for Americans to eat, that or celebrate the conquest of the Native Americans by giving them small pox, either way, nothing serious. But now after spending a month's worth of Sundays with my entire Chilean host family doing nothing but eating, I've come to realize something about the importance of Thanksgiving. In American society where independence is so highly valued the family unit sort of gets pushed aside, people seem to take their family members for granted. I was really lucky growing up having most of my family so close by and having occasional dinners besides just Christmas and Thanksgiving. However, I'm completely addicted to family gatherings now. I spent every week here looking forward to Sunday, never planned anything with anyone else on Sundays because that was family day. Similarly, I never plan anything on Thanksgiving because it's a day to be with family, and close friends. When a Chilean girl asked me today to explain Thanksgiving I told her it was like a big Chilean Sunday, and it was a time for everyone to get together and think about everything they have to be thankful for, religion and beliefs aside. I didn't really understand that until today, when I wasn't even in the same country as my family on Thanksgiving and was celebrating it in a hotel. My friends and I, before we ate, went around and all said something we were grateful for, and it was a really heartwarming experience for me, since this is probably the last time we will, for the most part, all be together as a program. So, on this day, a truly American holiday, I want to share with you all what I'm most grateful for:
I am extremely grateful for my huge family. The brothers and sisters I have that aren't related to me by blood, and of course the one that is. The three sets of parents I've had the privilege to have. The single mom in France who made my short experience there beautiful. The siblings that are under the category of 'friends', but know me just as well as if we shared the same blood. The many aunts and uncles I have trouble explaining to people outside of the Elk herd. The 5 grandparents I've been so lucky to spend summers and ski trips with. My second moms that have raised me and been there for my mom when she needed help I couldn't give, as well as supportive of me as I trek through life. My Michigan family, two moms and a dad a boyfriend and a brother, that have taken me in and loved me like I love their own children.
Thank you to you all. I've never been happier than I have been with you. Happy Thanksgiving from Chile!