Man, hard to believe another year has rolled around and it’s time for Thanksgiving again. Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, brussels sprouts in bacon fat and vinegar, freshly baked rolls, pumpkin pie… I love it all. I also love how while there are “standards”, every family has their own culinary tricks, favorites and traditions.
Not only a time for honoring old traditions, Thanksgiving can also be an opportunity for creating new ones. While our individual situations may put our old, familiar traditions on hold, we can create new ones. The old ones never go away of course. They just sit dormant, waiting for their chance to bloom again.
Thanksgiving can be a time for playing football in the back yard while the turkey slowly roasts to perfection. It can also be eating MREs in the desert while reading letters from home.
It can be a time of gathering with friends and family. Welcoming new family members, and remembering those who have moved on. It can also be eating pressed turkey and gravy at a diner surrounded by strangers, soon to be friends.
Thanksgiving is, after all, just a day. It’s what we make of that day that defines it. It is a time to reflect on those things in our lives we are grateful for. People who have touched us. Moments we shall never forget, good and bad. It is a time to reach out to those who may not be as fortunate, to remind them that they are not forgotten, that compassion and humanity are not just words in a dictionary.
Wherever you may be, whatever you may be doing, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.
Gregor
