It’s Thanksgiving

With the loss of Aster just over a year ago family holidays have lost some of their luster. They are impossible to face without mixed feelings. On the one hand the ability to get together, even on the limited basis that we are doing it this year, has to be appreciated and honored. It is a very good thing. On the other hand, the gap at the table is even more noticeable. 

All that being said, while a year does not lessen the pain, it does increase the perspective. You realize that suffering loss is part of the human condition, and that you are not alone in your grief. You realize that life must go on. That there are obligations that must be met. That there are challenges to deal with. That there is laughter yet to be had.   

This is especially true at Thanksgiving, which has always been a favorite holiday. It is the least baggage laden of days we celebrate. It doesn’t have the gift buying pressures of Christmas, the sense of New Years that there is somewhere a better party that I should be at, the need for a clever costume at Halloween. It is just a chance to get together with family, eat too much, drink a bit and laugh over old times and new. What could be better than that? 

Also, with other holidays it’s easy to forget why we even celebrate them. With “Thanks Giving” that is not possible. You have to reflect on everything you have, how it’s more than you could ever have hoped for, and how it’s more than you really deserve. Like most people, I could list out the many things that I am thankful for, but that would be both boring and unnecessary. What’s important is that I recognize and appreciate the items on the list, and Thanksgiving demands that I do that. 

This Thanksgiving will have more than a tinge of sadness in it, to put it mildly, but it will also have a very real sense that there is so much that life has given me and that there is so much more to look forward to. So, I say without a hint of irony or sarcasm, Have A Very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!