Though my birthday was Monday, I still consider every Thanksgiving as my ‘unofficial’ birthday. I was born on Turkey Day, 1977. The day I was born, doctors gave me a less than 50% chance to make it through the day. My lungs were under distress and I was put on a ventilator or inside an oxygen chamber. (I’m not sure which. But for the first 48 hours of life, it was bad.) I had only a day of life basically, but despite the possibility of tragedy, my family looks at that day as good, not bad.
Not every Thanksgiving for me has been a good one since that tricky first one. There’s the year I got sick off of flavored popcorn and my father made me clean it up without using hands. There was the year we won a turkey during a turkey shoot competition and everyone got food poisoning. Oh, and the Thanksgiving we spent at Burger King because people got in a fight over whether to call it stuffing or dressing. (BTW- Stuffing is when it's put inside the bird. Dressing can be made of the same stuff, but it's baked in a pan. I'm a chef, I should know.)
But there’s been some great ones like the year my wife took me to New York to see the parade in person. My birthday was on Thanksgiving that year and I had always wanted to good on a year when my day and Turkey day coincided. That day I got to see 2 heroes of mine in person- Grover and Franco Harris.
Thanksgiving isn’t a great time for everyone. My wife’s family has gotten so bad with their celebrations, they decided to give up and do something else that day. So, we’ve started serving at local shelters. Every Thanksgiving Eve my wife and I and many of our friends make an event of stripping turkeys to prepared them for the masses that will enjoy them the next morning. IT’s a frigid event but so much fun. Just last night, we got to see 2 great girls step up into our roles after 7 years of watching us and their parents help out. The baton was passed and hopefully, now they’ll carry this tradition to their future boyfriends, husbands, and children.
I know with the events that have happened in Missouri and the nation this week has caused many to not feel very thankful. Well, I think to let those events taint today defeats the true meaning behind this holiday. The whole event was a tragedy. But it doesn’t mean that life is ruined for everyone.
Think of it like this- if you make more than $19K, you are in the top 1% richest people in the world. If you make $15K, you’re still in the top 15%. If you have running water, you’re actually in better shape than 70% of the world’s population. Ownership of a car, TV, laptop, or home keeps you in the better 25% of the global pop. What I’m saying is is that there’s still things to be thankful for even though the world is burning. People were still thankful for something in 1963 even though our 35th President had just been murdered less than a week before the turkey was carved.
Every Thanksgiving means to me that I managed to survive another 365 24 periods. It’s a time to be thankful that I continued to beat the odds, not matter how crappy my year may have been. There’s something to be grateful for no matter how terrible the world may be. So please, this year, try not to let the bastards get you down. You don’t have to be thankful for Ferguson. You can be disgusted about it. That’s human nature. Just don’t let it steal your joy on this Thanksgiving. Something good can come from tragedy- but sometimes, you have to be the one to make it happen.
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