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Thanksgiving Thoughts
You don't have to be American to give thanks. This is one of the times that I, personally, reflect on all of my blessings. What are your traditions? Do you have any? What are you Thankful for? This will be my very first without any family members aside from my daughter. I'm feeling quite nostaligic:
Thanksgiving is the holiday that I’ve always enjoyed rolling into peacefully. It has always been a day that I spent with family and friends and meditated on my personal reflection of all I have to be grateful for.
When I was a child, my Mother would spend two days preparing our meal. With our large family, we usually had two turkeys to cook and ten pounds of potatoes to mash. Our extended family lives far away so it was just our parents and all of us children. We dressed in our Sunday best and spent hours preparing hors d’oeuvers, putting logs on the fire and dragging Christmas decorations from the attic. There was always a football game on in one room and the Macy's Day Parade coming from another.
Sometimes my father would take us to Washington’s Crossing to see the re-enactment of Washington crossing the Delaware River, which started on Thanksgiving and ran through to Christmas Day. Dad always felt that it was important for us to know that people suffered for us to live our lives of privilege. He and Mother did a good job of instilling our sense of gratitude and pride. They wanted us to never take anything for granted and taught us that anything worth having was worth working for. To this day, I live my life this way and work hard to instill similar values in my own daughter.
This Thanksgiving, like others past, I take the time to reflect on all I have to be grateful for. The freedom to say what is on my mind is on the top of my list. I may live in a country that is struggling economically and politically right now—but I am grateful that I live here. Daily I am allotted freedoms and privleges that others will never know. I have a warm, comfortable home with food in my cabinets. I have worn out clothes that are functional, if not fashionable. I have a daughter whom I love with all of my heart, who fills me with such pride. I have the love of my life to share my hectic, chaotic days. I have so much more than I need and for that I am truly, forever grateful.
My large family has spread across this country so we no longer share our Thanksgiving together. This year I will be celebrating with new friends and their family and share in their traditions. The future holds so many promises and I’m filled with hope. My daughter is surrounded by many people who love her and she is happy and secure. We do our best to share what we have and give to others, even when money is tight. This Thanksgiving I will raise my glass and reflect on all the people who sacrificed so we could receive and thank God for all our blessings, great and small.
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"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
E. B. White
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