Day of Thanksgiving

Today, all across the nation, families are getting ready for the great American feast of Thanksgiving. We all are anticipating turkey with all the trimmings, various types of dressings and stuffing, loads of sides and massive amounts of desserts. But what else are we gathering together for? Family and friends? Football? Maybe we are just waiting for the chance to be with people.  For some this is the beginning of the hardest part of the year, when memories of those we have lost come flooding back. For some, this holiday opens the painful wound of a loved one who is not here for the family gathering. The elderly especially are prone to depression now and during Christmas. Those of us who plan our Thanksgiving to be the perfect dinner presentation, like we see on TV, need to remember to include the elderly in our celebrations, even though they may throw off the asthetics of the day. We need to remember, between the over eating and football games, the real reason for the day. To give thanks. To be grateful. To praise whatever God you believe in for the bounties of the last year. To be very mindful of what we have in this country, is never more appropriate than now, and the elderly members of the family can bring that home in a way no young person can. They have seen wars, depression, famine, strife and have come trough it all. They lived on rationed foods and commodities. They prayed openly and in every school across this land. They remember the national pride of being an American, and were willing to do without to bolster the countries efforts in two wars. They lived in a time that few people were wealthy enough to have phones, and no one had TV's. Air travel and the security pat downs were non existent. If they wanted to go to Grandma's house, they saved money for gas , if they had a car, or walked there. There was no football on TV so families had to actually talk to each other, play games with the kids and  share  what was going on  in there lives. Dinners took all day to cook and everything was made from scratch from victory gardens that provided the vegetables for the meal. If they were lucky enough to have a Bird, it had to be killed, cleaned and gutted before going in the roaster. Everyone was in the kitchen , the women anyway. You couldn't make stuff the day before because ice came in a big block that had to be delivered by the ice man to go in the ice box to keep things cold. Our grandparents and parents know what it means to be thankful for the very things that kept them alive from one day to the next. This Thanksgiving, it is my hope we all take a step back and listen to what our elderly have to say about what they lived through. They have so much to teach us if we would just listen to their halting stories. Let them talk. Let them tell their stories in their own way. They still have so much to give us if we would take the time to hear and accept their precious gift. They may be gone next year, so take the time now while we still have them close.
Wishing you all and very blessed Thanksgiving surrounded with those you love and who love you

Related articles

• "Today Americans gather with family for a Thanksgiving feast" and related posts (momento24.com)
• Blessed Thanksgiving... The Whole Fam-Damily Gathering 2010 (themoderatevoice.com)
• Coping with Thanksgiving Day Blues (psychologytoday.com)
• Things to Be Thankful For: Two- Remembering the Day When Stores Closed Thanksgiving (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Lincoln's Proclamation of the First Thanksgiving (thestrangedeathofliberalamerica.com)

The Perfect Holiday Doesn't Exist

It is that time of year again when we all gather around a humongous feast and eat way too much and see people we haven't seen in years. The holiday season brings tidings of peace and joy and a fair amount of unresonable expectations which leads to increased holiday stress and anxiety. Families have grown up with the perfect holiday gathering etched in their heads. We can't help but expect a serene and beautiful holiday experience. But Timmy will throw mashed potatoes at his sister and grandpa will take out his teeth to remove a sesame seed, thus grossing out all the teens at the table, and probably some adults too. There are those people that will laugh way too loud, or drink just a little too much holiday cheer and make a pass at their sister in law or spend the evening crying over the burned yams.
This is what holidays are really like. MESSY! To expect a perfect holiday is like expecting Santa and all 8 reindeer to drop by in full view of the kids and sign an autograph before taking off for the next stop. Do yourself a favor and try to remember the messiest and least scripted experiences are probabaly the ones you will treasure long after they are gone. These are the things people will talk about for years to come, even when the offending family member has long since passed on. These are what makes life special and memorable. Enjoy the mess. Enjoy the dog running off with the Christmas ham. Yes, enjoy Uncle Harry's "pull my finger" gag.
The mystery of life and the magic of the holidays in captured in the unexpected and spontaneous moments yet to come. Do your best to enjoy the time with your freinds and family without expecting them to be "well behaved and polite". Enjoy finding out just who they really are and watching them enjoy being with you. Be thankful for a happy and healthy family that has enough this year to have a place to sit and food to eat.
Celebrate the unique symphony that is your family in full holiday swing. Kids, take a few pictures while you are at it. You never know when you may need backmail material!
Happy Thanksgiving and save me a turkey leg!