I can hardly believe it’s Thanksgiving again. Where did that year go? So many wonderful events happened this year within the AutoSuccess family. We gained a new associate publisher in Scott Ghedine, whose experience and sales approach has garnered us new and renewed marketing partners. Our long-time sales manager Brian Ankney got married to his lovely bride Karen. And other team members celebrated milestone birthdays — 40 and 50!

Many of us spend so much time with our co-workers that they often become close friends, almost family. Sometimes our friends become our chosen families.

My husband, Matt, and I are lucky to havea group of friends that are honestly more like family to us. This year, we decided to have everyone (including some AutoSuccess team members!) over before the holidays for a night of friends, laughter and memories, and it turned into what is now becoming known as a “Friendsgiving.”

“Friendsgiving is an opportunity to enjoy the best parts of Thanksgiving, without sometimes stressful family members; it’s celebrating with your chosen family, typically before Thanksgiving arrives,” Blake Bakkila, said, in her article for Real Simple magazine.

For our potluck Friendsgiving, everyone pitched in in one way or another. Some brought side dishes or desserts, some helped with set up and clean up, and Matt smoked a turkey. After dinner we sat around a bonfire telling stories. My face hurt from laughing so hard. We turned it into a sleepover with some of the group staying in campers. We had the best time, and I can’t wait to do it again.    

I think it is so important with our busy lives to take time away from work and the holiday pressures to enjoy each other and create new memories and traditions.

Our first “Friendsgiving” reminded me of a quote I love:

“True friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget.”

Here’s to a Happy Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving to you and your families — the ones you’re related to and the ones you choose.