Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 24th, 1960.
I was 13 years old. My aunt, uncle and cousins were visiting for the Holiday. Excitement was in the air. The “male children” had to sleep in an unfinished and unheated attic to make room for adult guests. We slept in army cots, with sleeping bags, and plotted practical jokes to play on my youngest cousin who just happened to be a girl. What a blast!
It was morning, and the smell of bacon permeated the house. My mother had the dining room table decorated to remind us that it was Thanksgiving Day. My father was looking up the bus schedules to see when we could catch a ride into New York City to see the Macy’s Day Parade.
Later on in the day, after the Parade, we went to the Teaneck High School football game. We always played our arch-rival, Hackensack, on Thanksgiving.
Then, of course, the feast! Oh the fond memories.
I have so much to be thankful for.
I was blessed with a wonderful mother and father. I have two great brothers. I was exposed to the most influential elements of my life at a young age: my Christian heritage; the Boy Scouts; and music (I played saxophone through my Junior and Senior High School years). My parents supported me in almost every endeavor I undertook. I felt loved.
As an adult, I continue to be blessed beyond all expectations. I am married to a woman who led me to my Life, and who continues to do so every day. I have been blessed with children and grandchildren who make me proud, and who continue to grow daily. I am living in the place of my dreams -- in the mountains where nature can talk to me. I have been blessed with a “calling” -- a “purpose in life” which I have realized few people have.
Don’t get me wrong, life has not been a bed of roses. I have shared tragedies with my loved ones, suffer physical and emotional pain, and often wonder if I’m on the right track. But I’ve realized that all these things have also helped me to become “who I need to be.”
Looking back, one of the most memorable Thanksgiving’s was a recent one -- one where all our children, spouses, and grandchildren came to our mountain home. Yes it was hectic, but as we ate the Thanksgiving Feast that night, each of us expressed what we were most thankful for in the preceding year. I remember tears -- my own and other’s -- tears of thanksgiving.
I hope this conjures up similar feelings in you. I hope you have much to be thankful for. I hope you have learned to be thankful even in the bad times.
I’ll end this post by leaving you with a question to ponder. I mean it. Please spend some time dwelling on this question. I have, and it’s helped me to see Life more clearly:
When you have that feeling of thankfulness that wells up within you, who do you feel like thanking?
