Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Turkey and football and the beginnings of the Christmas season make for an unbeatable combination.  I come from a once large now small family.  Our traditions have changed accordingly.  It’s been hard to do, but we have succeeded.  Better to go with change than to fight it.

Our Thanksgiving Day dinner changes from year to year.  One year my wife cooks at home.  Another year we go out for dinner.  This year we are driving to my brother-in-law’s house in Ashland.  His home almost burned to the ground last spring and he is celebrating its rebuilding.  We are thankful that his family and dogs survived as the fire spread across the ceiling very early in the morning while they were sleeping.  It could have ended in disaster. 

Our favorite tradition is Black Friday.  When my son was small we used to get up early in the morning to check out the lines outside the stores.  We walked through some but did very little shopping because, quite frankly, it was scary.  Then we went to breakfast.  We were home by nine in the morning just in time to begin putting up the Christmas decorations.

Black Friday is still a family tradition, but now we just go to breakfast and drink coffee until noon.  We put the outside lights up at the beginning of November when it is still warm leaving the wreaths and other visible accoutrements to hang on Black Friday afternoon.  Friday night we meet with friends for pizza.  Saturday is a trip to Kraynak’s in Sharon to look at tacky Christmas stuff.  We always buy some tacky Christmas stuff.    

One of my favorite Thanksgiving things to watch is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  Snoopy is a cool dude and knows how to carve a turkey…and make popcorn and toast.  As always, we learn the true meaning of the holiday as we are taught to give thanks for family and friends and the blessings bestowed upon us.  Did I mention Snoopy does a good job carving a turkey?  And the music for this Charlie Brown special is outstanding. Little Birdie...Why do you fly upside down??

Thanksgiving is a laid back holiday.  Sure…the dinner is a lot of work, but there is really very little pressure to do much of anything else.  There are no gifts or Thanksgiving Eve dinners.  No present opening cleanup before the company arrives.  It’s expected the men will stretch out and watch whatever football game is on after the kids watch the various Ho-Ho parades.  The turkey makes us sleepy…or maybe the wine or maybe all those carbs.  The food police haven’t attacked Thanksgiving dinners yet.  Be on the lookout.

So…this year we are another year older, but we made it  through another year.  The country is struggling, but we still can speak our mind.  The economy is shaky, but we aren’t destitute yet.  The politically correct crowd is out to destroy our traditions and beliefs, but we still have a voice to tell them to shut up.  Families are scattered throughout our great nation, but we have cell phones and skype to keep us in touch.  Health care politics brings us stress, but the miracles of modern medicine have us living longer and healthier.  The American family is changing, but it is still family.   I think it is safe to say….

...for all of that, we are thankful.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving.