Note from ACDIS: Happy Thanksgiving!

In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, the ACDIS office will be closed starting today, Thursday, November 26, and reopen on Monday, November 30. While the weekly CDI Strategies newsletter is normally filled with industry news, ACDIS updates, educational Q&As, and local chapter updates, this week we’re shifting our focus away from business as usual, and toward all we have to be thankful for.

We can all agree that 2020 has been a year of struggle, tragedy, and obstacles. As we approach the end of the year, however, it’s as important of a time as ever to look around us for all we are thankful for. This year, all of us at ACDIS are most thankful for our families and friends.

“I’m thankful that my daughter, Hannah, will be coming home for the holidays. She just finished her first semester of her freshman year at college, and although it was very much a non-traditional year and the school had to curtail activities due to COVID-19, she had a great semester, better than I could have hoped,” says ACDIS Director Brian Murphy. “We’re thrilled to have her home for the first time since August, reuniting with her parents and younger sister, Libby, who is a sophomore in high school.”

“I have a lot of things I’m thankful for, but I’m going to say in 2020, I’m most thankful that I have a wonderful family and circle of long time friendships along with myself and my loved ones are all healthy, safe and have all that we need,” says CDI Boot Camp Instructor Dawn Valdez, RN, LNC, CDIP, CCDS.

“I’ll echo Dawn in that I am definitely thankful that my family and loved ones are healthy and happy this year,” says ACDIS Editor Linnea Archibald. “Despite the chaos of this year, I’m also thankful that there’s room for quiet celebrations and lots of cozy weekends spent outdoors with my husband and dog or reading the day away.”

“I am thankful for my family and friend’s health and wellbeing during this challenging year and the hope of better times for all,” echoes CDI Education Director Laurie Prescott, Rn, MSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC. “That and wool socks!”

“I am grateful for so much this year. It hasn’t been the easiest of years but, it has been a time to remember not to take so many things for granted,” says CDI Boot Camp Instructor Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O. “I am grateful for my health and the health of those who are in and share my life. I am so very thankful that I have so many people in my life that I love and care about, and who care about me. I am very grateful for my family—they are my rock, my shelter, and my protectors and I wouldn’t be who or what I am without them.”

“I’m actually really thankful for having small gatherings for the holidays this year as opposed to large ones,” says Associate Editor Carolyn Riel. “It makes the meaning of the holidays purer again; less about driving around to show face at four different places, and back to spending it with the people who matter most to you. And I’m thankful to have such a warm and loving family to be able to do that with.”

“In these times, there's so much to be grateful for when so many struggle to make the best of meager amounts,” says Associate Editorial Director Melissa Varnavas. “I am grateful for my little home in my little hometown with its garden that's still giving me herbs for my dinner and its two cats that curl up where they will and my handsome husband who does the same and who, somehow, forever manages to make me smile.”

Today—and this whole year—we’re extending a virtual hug and champagne toast, hoping you all have as much to be grateful for as we all do. From all of us at ACDIS, have a safe and very happy Thanksgiving!