Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Football, food, no work, what could be bad? When I was a kid, Thanksgiving Day meant the annual football team between the two local high schools. I never missed it, and when I was in high school myself, I participated in it by being in the marching band. That night, we would always have Thanksgiving dinner at our house. My father would drive into Brooklyn to pick up the grandparents, while my mother would cook the turkey and stuffing and all the extras. She did it all, with only a little bit of help from her mother and her aunt. Pretty amazing, considering we would have anywhere from twenty to thirty people over for dinner.

Times have changed. Thanksgiving now is at my house here in Phoenix. My family will drive up from Tucson to celebrate with us. Too many people are missing from years past: my father, my sister's husband, my grandparents, the great aunts. My aunt and uncle and cousins from New York are too far away to join us. They will all be missed. Even my kids won't be here this year, my stepkids are with their Dad in San Francisco and my daughter will remain in Tucson with her mother. It'll be different.

It seems like there's not a whole lot for me to be thankful for this year, but that would not be the truth. I'm thankful for my wife, the best person I have ever known and the greatest gift that God has ever given me. I'm thankful for my kids, who can drive me crazy at times, but of whom I am so proud. I'm thankful that my mother and siblings live close enough that we can be together for this holiday. I'm thankful for my job, which allows me to live in a nice house in a nice place and allows me to put food on the table for my family. I'm thankful for this great country we live in, and that after eight long years of darkness, we have a new President-elect who has given so much hope to so many. I'm thankful for my health, I know of too many people who haven't lived as long as I.

In reality, there's a whole lot for me to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.