The Tardy Thanksgiving

These days it sometimes seems hard to bring to mind things for which we should be thankful. Most of us have and are experiencing a bit of a tough time right now with no apparent respite on the horizon. Of course, we tend to focus on our doldrums and allow the blessings that we enjoy pass on by with nary a mention. It is a difficult time all over our country as the news broadcasts hasten to tell us, as if we needed a reminder. Perhaps it is to show us that we are not alone in our misery and everyone knows that misery loves company. Just strike up a conversation with a stranger and see where it goes.

I was tempted to belabor the points of misery that we are suffering but instead I think my time would be better used in attempting to enumerate some of the blessings and good fortune we take for granted.

We should be thankful for the accident of birth that allows us to live in the United States of America. It is the most prosperous country in the world despite losing several categories to some other countries. It is a land of exceptional freedom and opportunity even though a couple of the Scandinavian countries now surpass us in the ability of their citizens to enjoy upward mobility. We have largely escaped the strictures to conform to a particular religion and enjoy the freedom to practice whatever faith we choose or none at all despite many efforts to change that.

It is good to note that freedom of assembly is still generally intact although under siege from time to time. In Egypt and Syria the people are dying in the streets to gain that freedom. There is nothing like the prospect of death to make one appreciate life.

I began writing this a few days before the Thanksgiving holiday but became sidetracked by some of the unexpected things in life. Things that just demand your attention and that can pull out of your eagerly anticipated plans and thrust you into situations that defy all attempts to categorize or quantify.

While enjoying getting to see and hold grandchildren and basking in the company of children who have gone too long unseen my sister became ill and ended up in our hospital and then on to St. Joseph's in Lexington. What was expected to be a relatively easy thing to deal with all of a sudden became life threatening. I am happy to say that after some serious heart surgery (as if there were any that is not serious) my sister is on the mend even though she feels like she has been run over by a moose. (Thanks for all your prayers).

The things of thanks and happiness are so much more simple than we allow for. Too often we place our happiness in material things and our yearnings for approval from others when true joy can only come from those things that cost us a part of ourselves. Don't think me too altruistic because I am pretty sure I could be joyful at the sight of a new Corvette with my name on it but even that would come a pauper to the joy felt at the reminiscences of siblings growing up together or the love of a Mother you have known all your life. The joy of having found a wife with whom to share whatever life brings. I have never been able to understand not wanting to share gifts with someone who knows you and what they mean to you.

So, this is my Thanksgiving column and we are well on our way to Christmas. I think I will try to refrain from making my plans for that holiday too detailed and just enjoy the fellowship of my family and friends, often the two overlap. Sometimes I wonder just how much free will we actually enjoy when we are buffeted by the winds of the unforeseen. How we meet those challenges could well define how much we enjoy the gift of life and living in this country. Even at our worst we are more fortunate than 90% of the rest of the world.

Very few things that are worth anything come without requiring some piece of ourselves and by that I don't mean money or material wealth. I mean by requiring some self-sacrifice or the placing of someone else ahead of yourself. I know people for whom this is crazy talk but I think they just miss the point. How selfish would one have to be to not feel joy in knowing that he or she had some part in giving and in loving?

The Thanksgiving holiday was expected to be joyful and it was. But other travails that arose unforeseen gave rise to another kind of joy. I am often reminded of the quote by that great philosopher Forrest Gump as it was given to him by his Mother. “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.”