Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away, I wanted to write something about what the holiday means to me.

Just as Linus aptly summarizes the meaning of Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas, so Marcie concisely states the meaning of Thanksgiving in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. 

Marcie: But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown. 

I added my own italics to the last two sentences because they are exactly what Thanksgiving means: gratitude for being with the people we love.  The holiday can't be any simpler than that.  Of course, there's all the good food, TV, and whatever else people do on Thanksgiving, but at its heart, Thanksgiving is about people being together. 

I remember spending my own Thanksgivings as a kid at my grandmother's house.  Nana made holidays extra special for her family.  Our last Thanksgiving with her was a sad one, but it reinforced the meaning of the holiday.  As Nana lay sick in her bed resting while the rest of us ate dinner, a curious thing happened.  One by one, my cousins, brother, sister, and I snuck off to Nana's darkened room to sit around her bed.  Although Nana couldn't see us, she must have known we were there.  Even some of the adults came in to partake in our unspoken vigil of the woman who showed us what the holidays and family were all about.

Nana died less than a month after that final Thanksgiving, but to this day my family remembers the lessons she taught us about gratitude, simplicity, and joy.  Life in many respects is much easier for Americans in the 21st century than it was for the Pilgrims almost 400 years ago.  Our comfort is possible thanks to those pioneers in the wilderness who sought to create a city upon a hill that would serve as a light to the rest of the world.

I am thankful for all of the people in my life whom I love, and that I live in a country that still cherishes the struggles of its ancestors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Coming Soon: Interview with Santa...