Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I'm actually pretty much of a holiday junkie. I love Christmas with its lights and music and hopeful proclamation of peace and good will; Halloween with its spooky ghosts and goblins; New Years and Mardi Gras with their great food and merriment; Easter and Labor Day and the Fourth of July, and well, all the smaller holidays that mark our days with bright red asterisks and make them special.
Oh, I know that every day we open our eyes and take in a breath is special. Twenty-four hours is twenty-four hours after all - a turkey picture on the calendar doesn't magically transform one particular day of the month into something extraordinary. Or does it? After all, isn't that what a holiday is about? Taking an ordinary day, marking it with some special remembrance or significance, so that all of us can in some way be the better for acknowledging it.
I think that's one of the reasons I like holidays so much. I feel like a better person for acknowledging and celebrating these special days. After all, holidays are a uniquely human creation - and I think their celebration not only helps put us in touch with our past, it helps bring down walls in the present and build bridges toward the future.
And of all our American holidays, Thanksgiving is particularly good for doing all of the above. For one thing, we can focus our attentions on just two things - family and food. We don't have to buy presents, hide eggs, sew costumes or decorate trees. We just have to open our cookbooks, put on our aprons and roll up our sleeves. Some of the recipes we prepare for this special meal are so tried-and-true, they practically make themselves. Perhaps in our family we're noted for a favorite dish and that's the one everyone will be waiting for when we arrive. Somehow camaraderie and good spirits run high all day long, from the first sighting of Snoopy in the Macy's Parade, through every touchdown right to the appearance of that magnificent golden brown turkey (or vegetarian specialty!) at the head of the table. This holiday just naturally lends itself to honoring traditions while bridging generational gaps.
And to me, that's one of the best things about Thanksgiving. While we honor what it represents, our nation's recognition of a need to give thanks for our bounty and good fortune, we are also able to add our own unique touches to the holiday - recipes that reflect the region where we live or the culture that shaped our particular family.
But however your family celebrates Thanksgiving, whether you prepare the entire feast or bring that special recipe everyone anticipates or you sit in front of the television set all day cheering your favorite football team, remember that when everyone is gathered around the table together, there is one more ingredient vital to the Thanksgiving menu. That ingredient is thanks.
Thanks for surviving another year together; thanks for the wonderful memories of those who have left us; thanks for the health we too often take for granted; thanks for the hope that feeds our spirits and keeps us trying; thanks for the chance to make things a little better for those less fortunate. And especially thanks for the love of the people with whom we are sharing this wonderful and very special day of Thanksgiving. May all of us have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day. And may all of us have Hope and Peace in the year ahead.
