Thanksgivings Past and Present

Turkeys, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans cooked encassarole with French fried onions, cranberry sauce, hot rolls and butter, and pies, both pumpkin and apple, both accompanied with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, maybe both!

Year after year. The only change was who was gathered around the table and the size of the bird. Larger ones as our numbers grew, smaller as our core family shrank with distance, marriages and births.

I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving in Altadena, California, and also the Mojave Desert and Glendora, California. Then Pittsfield, Massachusetts, East Syracuse, New York, Chicago, Oak Park, Palos Heights, Wheaton, Kildeer, St. Charles, Barlett. All in Illinois for the non natives among you! And now Warrenville.

Different venues but no menu change. Different people all reaching out to weave the clan together in new patterns. No gifts, just each other’s presence, and the food; of course the food!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is all about good people and good food. No other hoopla or special doings. It is a time to share among family and very good friends.

Simply put, we give thanks for each other and the lives we share. And we are thankful for our blessings however plentiful or not.

Compare this with the hubbub surrounding Christmas. Many of the same people. Many of the same places. Similar menus laden dining tables. Travel from distant sites to join others. Reunions, some of damaged relationships, many tearful and joyous for many different reasons. Christmastime is for families to gather, and to introduce new family members. Unlike Thanksgiving, the Yuletide does not usually include friends unless they are unattached and traveling far from their families.

And then there is Easter. A happy time with serious religious meaning. But in the secular American community it is the harbinger of spring and the rebirth of plants and trees as they shake off the cold slumber of winter. Christmas is also a religious holiday but less so year after year. Rather than celebrating the Christ child as a redemptive power among mankind, the Yule is a season of celebrating new beginnings and hope, a welcome to winter as we complete another calendar year. It is a time to share our bounty with others in material ways. Thanksgiving is unencumbered by religion. It is pure and untrammeled. It is all about sharing self with others.

As we settle into chairs around the Thanksgiving table this year, let us give thanks for each other. Give thanks for the blessings which give health to us, food for our bodies, and meaning for our minds to ponder and revel in. This holiday is special to each of us in our own individual way. May it be special to you and yours on this very special day.

In Illinois and New England, as fall takes root, trees are fully bare of leaves, and gray skies and cool temperatures take hold of our environment, warm and cozy inside time is special. A great time of year to be indoors, share a closeness with family, and aromas of slow cooking food. Are you ready for yet for Thanksgiving? I am. Can’t wait! Its about the only time I appreciate the onset of winter cold, snow and ice! But inside, aaahhhhh!

November 22, 2011