I don’t know about you, but I really get excited this time of year.
There’s been so much build-up for weeks on end. You can’t look around without seeing some visual reminder that it is Thanksgiving, the most wonderful time of the year.
On Wednesday night, the kids and I will barely be able to fall asleep, as visions of pumpkin pies dance in our heads.
On Thursday morning, we’ll sprint down the stairs before the sun even comes up to gather around the Thanksgiving tree and exchange gratitudes. Perhaps we’ll crank up some Thanksgiving music, such classics as Adam Sandler’s “Thanksgiving Song,” Bing Crosby’s “Count Your Blessings” and, of course, that classic “Food, Glorious Food” from Oliver.
We’ll all head out for church that morning, sharing our faith in God and thanking him for all we have and all we are.
Then the true fun begins. Some years we’ll have people over to our home. Other years, we’re packing up and visiting gluttonous feast after gluttonous feast elsewhere for the two sides of our family.
What could be better than gathering together with your kin, devoting the entire day to remembering just how fortunate you are? What could be better than all those hours spent recounting our blessings, never to bring up those transgressions from the past that mar other gatherings but certainly not this blessed day?
Football’s always on the plate too, with classic pro games in Detroit and Dallas scheduled, generally coinciding with prime pigging-out time.
What could be a manlier day than Thanksgiving, a day focused on the three F’s — food, family and football?
Oh, I’ve heard about that supposed war on Thanksgiving. You hear about it every year, don’t you? It’s the over-commercialization of the holiday that rubs people the wrong way. I get it that you want to get through Halloween before you start seeing turkeys and cornucopias popping up everywhere.
But for so many of us, this is what being an American is all about. After all, it’s my right to be happy about everything good in life. We’re a country founded on thankful principles. There’s nothing more American than appreciating the stuff you already have.
Ah, how I wish this is the world where I lived. Instead, Thanksgiving is a nearly forgotten holiday.
Sure, we gather together and enjoy our big meals, but so many people use that together time to strategize the Black Friday shopping plan. They’re so fixated on what Christmas has become, an opportunity to over-indulge on stuff, that they’ll never quite enjoy Thanksgiving, an opportunity to appreciate the stuff you have.
Even when times are hard and the world seems out of control, there are things we can appreciate, like family, friends and our general good health.
So even if it’s not quite as beloved as its December holiday cousin, I offer my heartfelt holiday greetings: Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.
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